-  ^^ 


lit 


A  traffic  history  of  the 
Mississippi  River  System, 

hy 
Frank  Haigh  Dixon 


l^ 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


// 


^'^"Nrrrj  ^^ational  waterways  Commission   f"^"^^^^'"'' 


A  TRAFFK    HISTORY 


OF   THE 


MTSSrSSlPPI   RIVER  SYSTEM 


BY 


FRANK  HAIGH)Di;s:ON 

I'rofesaor  of  Economics,  Dartmouth  College 


SHIX(iT()N 

T    rKINTIX<;    OKFICK 

1 !»(»!! 


THE  LIBRARY 
WTVEP.SJTY  Or  CALU'CP.^.-* 


T A  BL  K    OF    VON TKNT> 


I 'age. 

Soun-ey  uf  information 5 

Devplopinoiit  of  transportation  on  the  Mississippi  River  system  previous  to  1860.  9 

I ,    I'ofore  the  I imc  of  steam 9 

1 1 .  The  stoamlxjat  and  its  comjjetitors 12 

1 1 1 .  ( )hio  River  conimorff' 17 

1\  .   I'pper  Mississippi  commorcc 20 

\' .   Missouri  River  commerce 22 

V I .  St.  Louis 24 

\'  1 1 .  '  'anal-lake  competition 24 

\'  1 1 1 .   Rates  and  fares 26 

1  .\  .  Speed  and  accidents 28 

X .  The  beginning  of  railway  comijet ition 29 

Decline  of  river  commerce  after  1860 37 

i .  Tlie  war  antl  the  railways 37 

II.  Ohio  River  commerce 40 

111.   Upper  Mississippi  comm(>rce 48 

I  \' .  St .  Louis 52 

\  .   Missouri  River  commerce 54 

\'  1 .   Lower  Mississippi  commerce 55 

Summary 64 

3 


UNI .  - 


-::rORNIil 


1949S0 


r 


SOURCES  OF  INFORMATION. 


Tiaflic  statistics  ol'  the  vvutcrways  of  tho  United  States,  paiticu- 
larly  oi  the  river  systems,  have  been  very  unsatisfactory,  and  in  spite 
of  the  care  now  taken  to  obtain  information  from  the  most  rehable 
sources,  they  can  be  re2;arded  even  at  present  as  only  approximately 
correct.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  United  States  Government 
has  never  assumed  control  of  waterway  traffic  as  it  has  of  that  of 
railways  and  hen<^e  has  nevei'  requested  fioni  water  cai'riers  unj 
statistical  reports. 

Such  statistics  as  have  been  collected  lai»j;ely  come  from  two 
sources:  First,  the  oro;anized  conunercial  bodies  of  the  larger  cities, 
and,  second,  the  reports  of  the  Corps  of  United  States  Engineers,  who, 
in  their  investigations  and  construction  work  upon  the  waterways, 
have  collected  under  instructions  such  commercial  statistics  as  were 
available  and  as  were  likely  to  assist  the  authorities  in  judging 
the  probable  commercial  value  of  any  engineeiiiig  project.  The 
United  States  engineers  have  in  most  cases  collected  their  own  in- 
formation, but  in  some  instances  they  have  taken  their  facts  second- 
hand from  the  conunercial  organizations,  so  that  this  vohmtary 
machinery  is  frequently  almost  our  only  source  of  information. 
That  the  information  secured  in  this  wa}^  is  far  from  satisfactory 
must  be  apparent  at  once.  In  the  first  place,  many  of  the  chambers 
of  commerce  have  had  no  systematic  plan  for  the  preservation  of 
records:  some  have  lost  their  records  by  fire,  others  by  the  ravages 
of  war.  The  annual  reports  of  only  one  river  city — Cincinnati — have 
been  available  preA'ious  to  1860  and  these  reports  could  be  secured 
only  as  far  back  as  1S4S.  Whatever  of  information,  therefore,  is 
desired  from  these  sources  must  be  obtained  from  such  reprints  as 
have  been  made  by  the  commercial  journals  of  the  time  or  by  the 
reports  of  the  United  States  engineers.  Moreover,  such  information 
us  is  available  is  almost  useless  because  it  lacks  uniformity,  is  local 
in  its  outlook,  and  is  presented  in  sucli  haphazard  fashion  that  no 
comprehensive  picture  of  river  commerce  for  any  one  year  can  be 
obtained  l)y  any  combination  of  the  local  figures.  Of  more  serious 
importance,  however,  is  the  fact  that  the  statistics  are  probably  in  no 
case  complete.  If  a  boat  captain,  after  secui'ilig  a  full  load,  chose 
to  leave  the  dock  without  submitting  a  record  of  his  cargo  to  the 
harbor  master,  there  was  no  power  that  could  prevent,  and  complaints 
of  this  character  M^ere  frequent.  Again  there  was  no  compulsory 
.system  of  waybills  or  records  of  any  sort,  and  products  were  fre- 
quently taken  from  port  to  port  with  no  more  fornuility  than  the 
transfer  of  the  freight  money  to  the  purser's  pocket.  No  reliance 
should  l)e  placed,  tiierefore,  upon  the  statistics  of  traffic  presented  in 
this  discussion  as  a  picture  of  the  actual  business  of  any  particular 
year.      However,  it   is  fair  to  assume  tiiat   they  are  of  some   value 

5 


6  TRAFFIC    HISTOEY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   EIVEB   SYSTEM. 

when  looked  at  comparatively.  It  is  probable  that  the  statistics 
of  one  year  were  taken  in  about  the  same  manner  as  those  of  another. 
Hence,'  however  inadequate  the  information  may  otherwise  be,  we 
may  fairly  draw  conclusions  as  to  the  increase  or  decrease  of  traffic 
over  a  period  of  years. 

Aside  from  occasional  special  studies  which  bear  either  directly  or 
indirectly  upon  the  subject  under  consideration,  most  of  the  informa- 
tion here  given  for  the  period  previous  to  1860  is  derived  from 
congressional  documents,  including  special  reports  of  government 
officials,  or  congressional  committees,  the  annual  reports  of  the  Chief 
of  Engineers,  United  States  Army,  and  from  current  publications, 
such  as  Xiles'  Register  and  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine.  Reference 
should  also  be  made  to  the  careful  and  detailed  history  of  Mississippi 
River  commerce  in  the  Report  on  Internal  Commerce  of  the  United 
States  for  1887. 

For  the  period  after  1860,  the  authorities  already  quoted  have 
been  drawnupon.  In  addition  to  these  sources,  annual  reports  of  the 
chambers  of  commerce  and  similar  commercial  organizations  of  the 
principal  river  cities  have  been  available,  including  the  reports  of 
commercial  bodies  in  Cincinnati,  Pittsburg,  Louisville,  Kansas  City, 
New  Orleans,  St.  Paul,  and  St.  Louis.  In  addition  there  are  the 
ollicial  publications  of  the  United  States  Government,  which  have 
been  very  much  more  satisfactory  in  recent  years,  some  of  which 
have  devoted  considerable  attention  to  water  traffic. 

The  collection  of  statistics  of  trafiic  on  internal  waterways,  so  far 
as  it  was  authorized  hj  congressional  statute,  began  with  the  river 
and  harl)or  bills  of  1866  and  1867,  which  required  the  Secretary  of 
^^'ar  to  report  on  various  works  and  to  state  the  amount  of  com- 
merce and  navigation  which  woidd  be  benefited  by  the  expenditures. 
This  legalized  a  long-standing  practice  under  which  the  Corps  of 
Engineers  reported  the  commercial  statistics  in  the  manner  already' 
described.  On  May  8,  1875,  an  act  was  passed  which  provided  for  an 
annual  report  by  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  "'the  actual  cost  of 
transporting  freight  and  ])assengers  on  the  railroads  and  on  the  canals, 
rivers,  and  other  navigable  waters  of  the  United  States,  the  charges 
imposed  for  such  transportation  of  freight'  and  j)assengers,  and  the 
tonnage  transported."  A  Bureau  of  Internal  Conmierce  was  set  up 
in  the  Treasury  Department  and  the  (irst  report  was  issued  in  1876 
as  Part   11  ol'  the  Annual  Report  on  Cojumerce  and  .Navigation." 

These  re])()rts  continued  to  l)e  i.ssued  with  some  irregularity  until 
the  inauguiiition  of  the  Monthly  Summaiy  ot"(\)mmerce  and  Fiiumce, 
in  1901,  which  devotes  a  section  to  internal  commeire.  The  sta- 
tistics for  the  river  .systems  as  they  appear  in  this  summary  are  in 
most  cases  drawn  from  the  monthlv  re))orts  of  the  United  vStates 
engineers,  the  latter  being  assisted  ui  the  collection  of  information 
by  an  ad  of  Congress  ol"  l<'ebruary  21,  1801,  which  rc'cpiires  agents 
of  all  vessels  iiavignting  waterways  under  fe(l(Mal  improvement  to 
furnish  slntcments  of  their  vessel  caigoes  to  the  United  States  engi- 
neei-  ollicci-  in  locad  charge  <»!'  such  improvements. 

o  Tht!  n'Dort  ontitlod  "('()inmorc(!  and  Navipation,"  devoted  solely  to  foreign  com- 
merco.  had  hccn  i^'^'llr'd  aiinuallv  f'ince  1822. 


TRAFFIC  HISTORY   OF   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  SYSTEM.  7 

Other  official  publications  of  value  which  cover  the  period  of  the 
last  twenty  years  include  the  volume  on  Transportation  by  V\  ater,  in 
the  Census  of  1S90,  and  the  Special  Census  Report  on  Transportation 
by  Water  in  1!)06,  and  the  Preliminary  Report  of  the  Inland  Water- 
ways Commission,  1908,  containing  nmch  information  collected  by 
the  Bureau  of  Coi-porations.  This  material  is  now  being  published 
by  the  Bureau  of  Corporations  in  more  extended  form  in  a  series  of 
volumes.  The  first  two  parts  have  appeared,  and  discuss  General 
Conditions  of  Transportation  by  Water  (pt.  1)  and  Water-borne 
Traffic  (pt.  2).  All  of  these  publications  have  been  freely  drawn 
upon  in  the  preparation  of  this  study. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THANSPOHTATION  ON  THE  MISSISSIPPI 
RIVER  SYSTEM  PREVIOUS  TO  IHfiO. 


BEFORE    THE    TIME    OF    STEAM. 

In  tracing  the  traffic  liistor}'  of  the  waterway  system  of  the  Middle 
West  it  is  unnecessary  to  give  more  than  ])assing  attention  to  the 
period  preceding  tlie  nineteenth  centurj-.  The  development  of  our 
mternal  resources  liardly  took  its  heginning  until  the  close  of  the 
French  and  Indian  war,  in  1763,  when  Kentuck}-  and  Tennessee  re- 
ceived their  first  settlers.  During  the  Kevolution  a  (considerable 
trade  sprang  u])  between  the  Ohio  River  settlements  on  the  one  hand 
and  New  ()rleans  and  the  eastern  seaboard  on  the  other,  the  ship- 
ments of  tlie  middle  western  producers  being  down  the  Ohio  and  the 
Mississipj)i,  but  this  was  suddenly  cut  oft"  with  the  enforcement  by 
S|)ain  of  her  commercial  restrictions  on  the  lower  Mississippi  after 
17S").  Not  until  the  j^urchase  of  Louisiana  in  1803,  or  even  until 
aftei-  the  war  of  1812,  was  the  Mississippi  sufficiently  free  from 
obstructions  or  the  traders  sufficiently  protected  from  annoyance  and 
risk  to  permit  the  development  of  a  steady  and  reliable  trafhc.  The 
eighteenth  century  was  to  a  consideiable  degree  a  time  of  exploration 
and  discovery,  of  ])ioneering  and  adventure,  and  not  a  ])erio(.l  of  set- 
tled commerce.  To  be  sure,  commerce  of  a  primitive  kind  was  con- 
tinuously present  upon  these  interior  waters,  but  it  was  only  such 
commerce  as  exists  wherever  human  beings  who  have  things  t  >  ex- 
change come  into  contact  with  one  another. 

The  dates  of  a<lmission  to  the  Union  of  the  hrst  river  States  indi- 
cate, in  a  general  way,  the  rapidity  of  settlement  and  the  growth  of 
a  basis  for  commercial  activity.     The  thites  are  as  follows: 

Kentucky 1792 

Tennessee 1790 

Ohio 1802 

Louisiana 1812 

Indiana 1816 

Mississippi 1817 

Illinois 1818 

Missouri 1821 

In  1810  about  one  million  people  were  living  in  the  western  States 
and  Territories.  This  number  had  more  than  doubled  by  1820. 
The  period  of  economic  depression  after  the  Kevolution.  the  Peace 
of  Amiens,  which  gave  a  sudden  pause  to  the  ])rosperity  of  our  foreign 
carrying  trade,  the  embargo,  and  the  War  of  1812,  all  served  as  spurs 
to  drive  the  people  westward  into  the  new  lands  along  the  w^aterwavs. 

As  prosperitv  increased  and  the  settlers  began  to  have  surplus 
pn^lucts  for  sale,  the  need  for  efficient  transportation  facilities  u])on 

9 


10  TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM. 

the  rivers  became  increasingly  urgent.  Devices  of  all  sorts  had  been 
resorted  to,  many  of  them  borrowed  from  the  Indians  and  pioneers. 
The  canoe,  often  large  and  capable  of  carrying  much  freight,  was  one 
of  the  earb'est  means  of  transportation.  \''ith  this  went  the  pirogue, 
a  boat  hollowed  out  of  a  log  and  propelled  by  oars  or  setting  poles. 
The  freight  carriers  were,  at  the  beginning,  either  the  batteau  or  the 
barge.  The  former  was  made  of  rough  plank  antl  was  capable  of 
carrying  heavier  loads  than  the  pirogue.  The  latter  was  one  of  the 
great  burden  bearers  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  in  the  earl}^  days. 
The  barge,  carrying  40  or  50  to  100  tons,  descended  with  the  cur- 
rent and  was  worked  upstream  by  any  one  of  a  number  of  devices, 
which  included  sail,  oars,  poles,  "cordelles"  (ropes  by  which  craft 
were  towed  from  the  shore),  warping,  animal  towage,  and  "bush- 
whacking" (hauling  upon  the  overhanging  branches  along  the  banks). 

Audubon,  who  took  a  trip  up  the  Mississipjii  and  Ohio  in  these  chn's," 
states  that  a  barge  would  leave  Xew  Orleans  on  March  1  and  fre- 
quently would  not  reach  the  falls  of  the  Ohio  at  Louisville  until  July, 
and  then  it  brought  onl}-  a  few  barrels  of  coffee  or,  at  most,  100  hogs- 
heads of  sugar.  The  number  of  barges  in  1808  did  not  amount  to 
more  than  25  or  30  and  the  largest  did  not  exceed  100  tons  burden. 
These  barges  made  one  round  trip  a  3'ear  or  sometimes  two  under 
unusually  favorable  circumstances.  The  trip  downstream  from  Pitts- 
burg to  Xew  Orleans  took  about  a  month.  It  was  the  wearisome  trip 
back  which  consumed  the  time.  In  a  favorable  stage  of  water,  goods 
could  be  sent  without  break  of  bulk  from  Xew  Orleans  to  Cincinnati; 
but  if  the  water  was  low,  transshipment  at  the  falls  of  the  Ohio  at 
Louisville  was  necessary. 

The  keel  boat,  a  long,  narrow  craft  averaging  12  to  15  feet  by  50, 
with  both  ends  pointed,  ran  with  the  current  and  was  poled  upstream. 
This  cra,ft  carried  20  to  40  tons.  There  were  probably  not  over  300  to 
400  of  these  boats  regularly  plying  the  Ohio  ni  1810.  It  is  estimated 
that  150  of  them  made  three  voyages  ])er  season  between  Pittsl)urg 
and  Louisville.  Their  })eculiar  advantage  was  in  their  nai'row  build, 
which  j)ermitted  tliem  to  ascend  the  tributaries  of  the  main  rivers  for 
long  distances  and  to  proviih^  the  ncM'essi'.rv  means  of  comnumication 
for  the  settlers  of  the  interior.  They  disti'ibuted  necessaries,  sucli  as 
salt  and  Hour,  and  did  the  carrying  trade  of  the  i)ortages.  As  their 
operators  acfjuired  knowUMlge  of  the  (hinger  points  in  the  streams, 
their  j)i'estige  grew  and  theii-  patronage  developed. 

Tliis  form  of  craft  was  adapted  for  passengei'  tiavel  by  pr()\'iding 
it  with  a  covered  deck.  A  i-eguiar  packet  sei'vice  ran  between 
Pittsburg  and  ('iucinnati  even  befoi'c  the  begiTuiing  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  I'^i-om  an  advorl  isemeni  of  (li(>  (list  packet  lin(>,  estal)lished 
in  1704,  the  iullow  ing  is  taken:'' 

First  boat,  will  leave  ('iiuiiiiiati  Ihis  morning  at  8  o'elock  and  return  to  Cincinnati 
HO  as  to  l)c  ready  to  sail  af^^aiii  in  four  weeks  from  this  date.  No  dauf^er  need  hi-  appre- 
heiidfd  from  the  enr'iny  as  every  person  (Ui  hoard  will  he  under  cover  made  proof  to 
ritle  halls,  and  convenient  |iortlioles  for  lirinj;  out.  Each  of  the  hoats  is  armed  with 
nix  pieces,  earryinj;  a  pound  l)all;  also,  a  f,'()od  number  of  niusket.s,  and  amjjly  su|)plied 
with  amnuinitiou,  stron<:ly  manned  with  choice  men,  and  the  maHt(>r  of  ap])roved 
knowle(lt;e 

"  llulherl,  Historic  IliKhwayH,  vol.  0,  ])p.  It3-I18. 
''Jiinnwall,  Trans|)(irlalion  Systems  in  t.he  United  States,  p.  ||. 


TRAFFIC    HI.STOHV    Ol'    MISSISSIPPI    UIVKK    SYSTEM.  11 

The  crai't  most  extensively  eiiijjloyod  in  early  Iransportation, 
both  hy  pioneers  and  re<:;iilar  traders,  was  the  flathoal.  1  his  was 
the  boat  which  never  came  hack.  Constructed  ludely  and  cliea|)ly, 
(•ostini!;  only  tVom  S'iO  to  $50,  it  was  used  for  downstream  traffic 
aloiijj:  the  l)aid-:s  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi.  It  was  about  40  feet 
lon^^,  built  sciuare,  and  mana<j:e<l  by  oars.  At  the  end  of  the  journey 
in  New  Orleans  it  was  sold  for  lumber  and  its  former  ownei-  made  his 
danijerous  way  back  to  the  ii|)per  Ohio  as  best  he  could.  'Ihe  risks 
of  the  trip  doubtless  led  many  to  undertake  it  j)urely  in  the  spirit 
of  adventure,  yet  much  reijulai'  tradinir  was  carried  on  by  this  means. 

Similar  in  character  to  the  llatboat  was  the  ark,  employed  for 
passenger  travel,  and  the  principal  reliance  of  the  emigrant. 

In  any  complete  description  of  early  river  craft  it  is  necessary  to 
include  sailing  vessels,  which  were  l)uirt  in  the  Ohio  Valley  during  the 
last  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  grew  in  importance.  They 
were  exclusively  downstream  craft,  and  were  the  export  carriers  for 
these  sections,  being  constructed  with  a  view  to  through  journeys  to 
the  Atlantic  coast  or  the  neighboring  islands.  These  ships  were 
sometimes  built  of  a  capacity  as  great  as  400  tons.  They  could,  how- 
ever, never  attain  any  permanent  place  in  the  commerce  of  this 
section,  because  the}^  were  one-way  carriers  only,  because  the  narrow- 
ness of  the  rivers  restricted  their  necessary  freedom  of  movement, 
and  because  the  irregularity  of  water  supply  and  the  dangers  of 
navigation  made  boats  of  deep  draft  impracticable. 

The  dilhculties  of  navigation  at  that  time  can  hardly  be  overesti- 
mated. Aside  from  the  risks  of  hostile  attack  and  the  difficulties  of 
upstream  propulsion,  and  aside  also  from  the  dangers  of  snags  and 
bars  which  have  attended  the  later  history  of  river  navigation  also, 
there  were  the  diHiculties  of  guiding  the  rude  and  unwieldy  craft 
around  the  many  islands  and  the  numerous  sharp  bends,  particularly 
in  the  upper  Ohio. 

^'PVom  February  to  June  and  from  October  to  December  were  the 
best  seasons  for  the  navigation  of  the  Ohio,  although  in  the  former 
sea  on  the  floating  ice  often  made  the  trip  dangerous.  Head  winds 
were  another  frequent  source  of  trouble.  The  river  was  so  crooked 
that  a  favorable  wind  might  within  an  hour  become  an  unfavorable 
one,  and  these  contrary  winds  contending  with  a  strong  current  were 
not  unlikely  to  drive  the  boat  asliore.  Boats  sometimes  pa.sse(l  from 
Pittsburg  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  in  fifteen  days  and  usually  ten  of 
these  days  were  used  in  reaching  the  falls  at  Louisville.  However, 
it  was  not  unusual  for  a  boat  to  be  two  weeks  in  reaching  even 
Limestone,  Ky."" 

After  the  falls  of  the  Ohio  wei'e  passed,  and  this  could  be  success- 
fully accomplished  only  in  high  water.  Tiavigation  was  good  for  keel 
boats  and  barges  of  100  to  200  tons. 

The  commerce  lloateti  upon  the  lower  Mississippi  and  the  Ohio  in 
these  first  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  of  various  origins. 
Besides  that  which  came  fi'om  settlements  along  the  river  banks, 
much  traffic  came  down  the  tributary  streams  to  be  collected  and 
transported  on  the  main  river  systems.  Manufactured  articles  and 
luxuries  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard  destined  for  \ew  Orleans  and 
Vip-river  points  came  to  Pittsburg  across  the  mountains,  or  to  New 


"  Gephait,  Transportation  and   Industrial   Dcvplopnu'nl   in  the  Middle  West,   pp. 
G2-().3. 


12  TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   Rn':EE   SYSTEM. 

Orleans  bv  coasting  vessel  and  tluMi  u])8tieain  bv  barge.  The  prin- 
cipal upstream  traffic  of  the  barges  consisted  of  sugar  and  molasses, 
although  groceries  and  other  articles  needed  in  the  Northwest  Ter- 
ritory were  transported  bv  this  means.  Downstream  trade  was 
largely  in  Hour  and  whisky,  but  a  more  miscellaneous  traffic  was  also 
comnion.  Xiles's  Register  of  March  29.  ISIT,  announces  the  arrival 
in  New  Orleans  within  the  year  of  529  flat-])ott<uued  boats  and  300 
barges  froju  the  Western  States  and  Territories,  bringing  a  large 
variety  of  food  jiroducts  and  household  necessaries.  This  traffic  was 
independent  of  the  boats  from  lower  Ijouisiana  bringing  cattle,  corn, 
indigo,  molasses,  sugar,  timber,  and  the  like,  and  was  also  exclusive 
of  the  peddling  traffic  of  those  flatboats  which  disposed  of  their  cargoes 
at  plantations  along  the  river  banks  before  arriving  at  New  Orleans. 
Very  little  information  is  available  concerning  the  cost  of  trans- 
portation during  these  early  years.  Ringwalt  states  that  the  charge 
between  New  Orleans  and  Cincinnati  was  about  $5  to  $6  per  100 
poimds,  or  at  the  rate  of  about  7  cents  per  ton  ])er  mile,  which  was 
much  below  the  average  charge  for  haulage  across  the  mountains  from 
the  east.'*  This  statement  is  in  ])ractical  agreement  with  that  of 
Robert  Fulton,  who,  in  an  argument  for  the  buihhng  of  Erie  Canal 
in  1814,  stated  that  the  freight  on  a  barrel  of  Hour  from  New  Orleans 
to  Louisville  was  $4.50  per  100  pounds,  or  %9  per  barrel,  equivalent 
to  6.7  cents  per  ton-mile.  This  he  contrasted  with  the  downstream 
rate  of  SI. 50  per  barrel,  or  a  little  over  1  cent  per  ton-mile,  the  lower 
downstream  i-ate  l)eing  due  to  the  greater  ease  of  navigation  and  (lie 
largei"  sup|)lv  ol'  craft. 

II. 

THE    STEAMBOAT    AND    ITS    COMPETITORS. 

The  application  of  steam  to  interior  river  navigation  began  with  the 
descent  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  by  the  steamboat  Enterprise, 
later  called  the  Xew  Orleans-,  which  left  Pittsburg  in  September,  1811, 
!:nd  reached  New  Orleans  in  January,  1812.  stopping  on  the  way  to 
receive  congratulations  and  once  retracing  its  path  upstream  for  the 
purpose  of  demonstrating  to  an  incredulous  public  its  power  to  accom- 
plish the  feat.  But  it  was  long  before  the  steamboat  was  to  drive  the 
less  efficient  craft  from  the  rivers.  In  the  first  place,  much  experi- 
menting was  re(|uii<Ml  befoi'e  a  boat  could  be  built  that  was  adapted 
to  copo  with  the  dangers  of  this  uni(pic  navigation.  Boats  weie  at 
first  t)iiilt  on  the  ship  model  with  deep  holds,  and  with  too  great 
draft  for  the  shoal  sections  of  the  rivers.  Xot  until  the  peculiar 
river  type  had  been  evolved — broad  and  flat,  capable  of  carrying 
1,000  tons  when  drawing  oidy  4  feet  of  water,  and  with  <lraft  of  only 
2^  feet  when  emj)ty — could  the  speed  and  the  power  be  secured  to 
overcome  the  many  obstacles  which  the  rivers  offered. 

A  secoiul  hindiance  to  I'apid  steandxiat  developnu'nt  was  the  Tails 
of  the  Ohio  which,  exce|)t  in  times  of  high  water,  divided  the  stretch 
between  Pittsburg  and  N'ew  Orlcjins  into  two  s(M'tions.  Inasnuich  as 
boat  building  was  largely  coidincd  at  (he  b(>gimung  to  the  uppei'Ohio 
and  its  allliients,  whei'c  wood  was  abundant  and  the  fitting  out  of 
steandK)als  could  be  more  readily  accomplished,  steamboat  com- 
merce was  slow  of  growth,  because  of  the  lack  of  a  basis  foi-  rapid 
truflic  <l(!velopment  in  the  spjirse  settlements  along  the  upper  Ohio. 

"   I»c\  r.|(>|.iii.'iil   <>1    I  r:ili-|i<irl;il  mil  Systems  in   llic  T^Iliti'll  StnlCN.  p.  17. 


TKA  KKH'    IIISTOHV    OF    M  l.SSlttSU'l'l    KIVEK    SYSTEM.  18 

A  third  liiiidraiicc  was  IouikI  in  the  luoiiopdiy  granted  to  Fulton 
and  Liviii<:;st()n  foi-  the  exclusive  (»|)erati<)n  of  steamboats  upon  the 
Mississippi  lor  fourteen  years  within  the  limits  of  the  State  of  Lou- 
isiana. If  steamboats  could  not  reach  with  their  product  the  o;oal  of 
river  traffic,  New  Orleans,  without  payinfj:  heavy  royalty,  there  was 
little  to  be  piined  fi'oni  the  operation  of  the  Mississi|)pi  or  of  the  Ohio 
below  the  falls.  This  monoj)oly  was  weakened  in  1S18,  virtually 
abandoned  in  1<S2(),  and  >i;iven  its  oflicial  death  blow  by  the  decision 
of  the  Su])reme  Court  in  1S24  in  the  case  of  Oibbons  v.  Ofjden,  which 
(iesti'oyeil  the  monoi)oly  in  interstate  commeice  of  the  same  indi- 
viduals on  the  waters  of  the  Hudson. 

It  is  not  surprisini:;,  therefore,  that  tlie  number  of  Hat  and  keel 
boats  and  barges  steadily  increased  clurino;  this  j)eriod  of  steamboat 
beginnino;s.  The  count  ly  was  settling;  rapidly,  tranic  was  glowing, 
the  flatl)oats  could  cairy  heavier  loads  than  the  first  steamboats, 
tlieir  operators  were  ex])erienced  pilots,  who  had  actpiired  custom 
and  good  will,  and  though  slow  moving,  they  ranged  I'arthei'  in  these 
early  days  than  their  steam-])i()j)(dled  c()m])etitors. 

Many  steamboat  tri])s  both  u])  and  down  stream  were  made  during 
the  years  immediately  succeeding  1811,  but  students  of  transporta- 
tion are  agreed  in  setting  the  year  1817  as  the  one  in  which  steam- 
boat navigation  passed  from  the  experimental  stage  into  a  regular 
service.  In  that  year  the  steamboat  Washington  made  a  trip  from 
Louisville  to  New  Orleans  and  return  in  forty-one  days,  the  voyage 
u])stream  consuming  twenty-live  days.  This  tri])  dispelled  the  last 
of  the  remaining  doid)ts  and  people  from  this  time  on  accepted  the 
steamboat  as  a  necessary  and  noinial  fact(U-  in  their  economic  life. 

Steam  navigation,  wliile  bringing  about  its  results  only  giadiuilly, 
had  the  elfect  of  developing  trade  and,  with  the  disappearance  of 
monopoly,  of  lowering  rates.  The  rates  and  fares  prescribed  by  the 
State  of  Louisiana  witli  the  grant  of  monopoly  to  Fulton  and  Liv- 
ingston remained  in  force  until  about  1819,  when  competition  drove 
them  down.  As  typical  of  these  rates  the  following  are  given:  F'rom 
New  Orleans  to  Louisville,  4h  cents  })er  pound  for  heavy  goods,  and 
()  c(Mits  foi- light  goods,  an  average  of  about  n  cents  j)er  pound,  or  $100 
per  ton,  e<)ual  to  7.5  cents  per  ton-mile.  'I  he  j)assenger  fare  from 
New  Orleans  to  Louisville  was  $125.  or  !).4  cents  ])er  mile.  The  rates 
were  cut  in  two  on  downstream  traffic.       The  high  ]>assenger  fare  is 

?artly  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  it  included  board  on  the  trip, 
f  twenty-five  days  be  allowed  for  the  uptrip  and  board  be  charged 
at  $2  ])er  da}',  the  fare  per  mile  is  reduced  to  5.6  cents.  But  no  sucii 
deduction  can  be  made  in  the  case  of  fieight  where  the  charges  seem 
to  have  been  during  tlie  mon()|)olistic  period  up  to  1820,  j)ractically 
the  same  as  befoiv  the  ai)i)earanc(>  of  steand)()ats.  But  it  should  be 
rememlxM'ed  that  steand)oats  carried  almost  no  freight  until  1819, 
and  that  for  many  yeais  thereafter  they  met  the  com])etition  of  the 
more  |)iimitive  craft. 

The  llatboats  not  tmiy  |)ersisled  but  they  increaseil  in  numl)ei's 
ami  capacity.  They  finally  reached  a  size  of  150  feet  by  21  feet,  car- 
rying 300  tons  of  produce.  Th(Mr  tiaffic  grew  and  Houi'ished  until  tlie 
civil  war  piactically  put  an  end  to  it.  Levi  Woodbuiy,  who  took  a 
tri])  down  tlie  Ohio  and  ^Fississippi  in  IS.'v'.  thus  describes  tliis  form 
of  trading: 

At  every  villiiyt-  \vi>  find  I'roiu  10  lu  20  tlat-boiiuiut'd  boats  which,  besiden  ooru  in 
the  ear,  pork,  l^acon.  flour,  whisky,  cattle,  and  fowls,  have  an  assortment  of  notions 


14  TRAFFIC    HISTORY    OF    MISSISSIPPI    RTVER    SYSTEM. 

from  Cincinnati  and  fbewhero.  Amon<r  the?e  are  corn  brooms,  cabinet  furniture, 
cider,  apples,  plows,  cordage,  etc.  They  remain  in  one  place  until  all  is  sold  out,  if 
the  demand  be  brisk;  if  not,  they  move  to  another  town.  After  all  is  sold  out,  they 
dispose  of  their  boat  and  return  with  their  crews  by  the  steamers  to  their  homes. 

During  these  years  the  fiats  bore  their  cargoes  to  southern  ports  or 
to  be  retailed  along  the  plantations  of  the  Mississippi.  Any  enter- 
prising man  who  could  build  a  "flat"  bought  up  the  crops  of  the 
neighborhood,  put  them  aboard  and  was  ready  to  start  on  the  ''fall 
rise."  A})ples  and  potatoes  were  the  staple  through  freight.  Goods 
for  pecklling  included  cider,  cheese,  pork,  bacon,  cabbages,  and  apple 
and  peach  brandy.  The  development  of  the  hay  traffic  from  Indiana 
to  New  Orleans  in  the  twenties  openetl  a  new  field  of  usefulness  for 
them.  They  seemed  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  collection  of  produce 
on  streams  hardly  navigable,  such  as  the  \Vabash.  During  all  this 
period  the  downstream  traffic  was  the  heavier,  the  upstream  traffic 
consisting  principally  of  coffee  and  sugar  among  the  tropical  products, 
and  of  manufactured  goods  and  luxuries  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
and  foreign  ports. 

Because  the  traffic  was  predominantly  downstream  and  because  the 
light  traffic  upstream  could  be  taken  care  of  by  the  steamboats,  the 
keel  boat  found  its  usefulness  at  an  end  and  rapidly  disappeared. 
The  flatboats,  on  tlie  other  hand,  admirabh-  supplemented  the 
steamboats  by  carrying  downstream  the  produce  which  the  steam- 
boats were  not  able  to  handle,  b}"  navigating  streams  where  the  risks 
of  snags  and  bars  were  too  great  for  the  more  valuable  vessel,  and 
where  the  settlements  were  sparse  and  the  business  light,  and  by 
converting  themselves  into  lumber  at  New  Orleans  and  thus  removing 
themselves  from  the  field  of  competition  for  the  meager  upstream 
traffic.  As  late  as  1840  nearly  a  fifth  of  the  freight  handled"  on  the 
lower  Mississip])i  went  by  fl;itboat,  keel,  or  barge,  principally  by  flat- 
boat.  Steam  towing  of  flatboats  was  tried  as  early  as  1829,  but  was 
not  successful,  owing  apparently  to  the  lack  of  proper  organization 
and  to  the  prejudices  of  the  flatboat  owners. 

The  published  statistics  of  flatboat  arrivals  at  New  Orleans  are 
very  incomplete.  The  craft  was  so  informal  in  its  movements  that 
its  arrivals  and  departures  could  not  readily  be  registered.  It  should 
be  noted,  however,  that  two-thirds  of  the  annual  arrivals  took  place 
in  Januarv  and  February.  It  is  estimated  that  in  the  decade 
1820-1 8.sn",  .S,000  flatboats  annually  descended  the  Ohio. 

The  following  table  |:)resents  the  most  satisfactory  statistics  avail- 
able of  flatboat  arrivals  at  New  Orleans  for  a  series  of  years: 

Arrirah  of  llathantx  at  Nrir  Orlcnns. 

1845-40 -2.  763 

1846-47 2,  702 

1847-48 J.  Ill 

1848^9 1 .  196 

1849-50 1.  184 

1850-51 1 ,  145 

1851-52 1.468 

1852-53 1 .  047 

1853-54 701 

1854-55 (i!4 

1855-56 718 

1856-57.  .  -.(1 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  SYSTEM. 


15 


These  fi<i;iires  shov,  ;i  steady  decline  in  flatboat  business  up  to  1<S6(). 
Tlie  decline  in  <i;eneral  trallic  of  this  form  of  craft  becomes  clearer  if 
it  be  noted  that  of  the  541  arrivals  in  LS.Ki-o?  at  New  Orleans  119 
were  coal  flats  from  Pennsylvania  and  136  were  hay  flats  from  Indiana. 
There  was  not  in  this  year  a  sin<]:le  flatboat  from  the  upper  Mississippi 
or  the  ^lissouri,  and  only  12  from  the  Illinois.  Flatboat  tradin<;  after 
the  original  manner  was  resumed  on  a  small  scale  after  the  civil  war, 
the  boats  starlinjz;  from  Pittsbur*::  and  W  heelin*:;,  and  was  continued 
until  the  hi^h  price  of  lumbei'  put  an  end  to  the  pe(hllin<:;  business. 

Sailin<i-  vess<ds  of  various  kinds  also  continued  to  play  a  part  in 
lower  Mississippi  trade,  esj)ecially  below  New  Orleans,  althou<;:h  they 
sometimes  ascended  as  far  as  Natchez  to  brin<^  down  cotton  and 
sugar.  But  the  steand>oat  was  ^ainin";  rapidly  on  all  its  competitors. 
In  1826,  57  per  cent  of  the  freii2;ht  was  carried  to  Xew  Orleans  by 
steamboat  and  only  43  per  cent  by  other  means. '^ 

The  <j;rowin>i:  importance  of  the  steamboat  can  be  shown  by  pre- 
sentiuiT  statisticallv  the  arrivals  at  Xew  Orleans  for  a  series  of  vears. 


Arrival  of  steamboats  at  New  Orleans." 


Year  ending  September  .SO— 

Number. 
21 

Year  ending  September  30— 

Number. 

1814 

1839 

1,551 

1815 

40 

1840 

1,573 

1819 

191 
198 
202 
287 
392 
436 
502 
608 

1841 

1,958 

1820 

1842 

2,132 

1821 

1843 

2,324 

1822 

1844 

2,570 

1823 

1845 

2.530 

1824 

1  1846 

2,770 

1825 

'  1847 

''4.024 

1826 

18?7 

\  1848 

2,917 

715 

i  1849 

2,873 

1828 

698 

1850 

2,784 

1829 

756 

1851 

2,918 

1830 

989 

1852 

2,778 

1831 

778 

1853 

3.252 

1832 

813 

1854 

3,076 

1833 

1,280 

1855 

2,763 

1834 

1,081 

1856 

2,956 

1835 

1,005 

1857 

2,745 

1836 

1,272 

1858 

3,264 

1837 

1,372 

1859 

3,259 

1838 

1,549 

1860 

3.566 

a  Report  on  the  Internal  Commerce  of  the  I''nitcd  States,  1887 


b  This  figure  is  probably  incorrect. 


It  will  be  seen  that  the  steamboat  arrivals,  with  certain  slight 
recessions,  steadily  increased  from  the  begimiinii;  of  steamboat  navio;a- 
tion  until  the  civil  war  put  a  stop  to  commercial  activity. 

New  Orleans,  at  the  terminus  of  river  transportation,  "irew  with 
great  rapidity,  and  was  rated  in  1?!40  as  the  fourth  port  in  point  of 
commerce  in  the  world,  exceeded  only  by  London,  Liverpool,  and 
New  York.  Its  exports  were  out  of  all  proportion  to  its  imports.  It 
shipped  heavy  articles  up  the  river,  but  for  the  finer  classes  of  manu- 
factures it  left  the  Central  West  almost  entirely  dependent  upon  the 
eastern  seaboard.  Later,  when  the  West  went  into  manufacturing 
and  Pittsburg  and  Cincinnati  sent  their  manufactured  goods  south 
by  river,  New  Orleans  received  them  and  reshipped  them  to  the 

«  Report  on  the  Internal  Comnierce  of  the  United  State?,  1887. 


16 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY    OF    MISSISSIPPI    RIVER    SYSTEM. 


plantations,  and  these  shipments  constituted  most  of  the  upstream 
traffic  from  Xew  Orleans.  There  seems  to  have  been  very  httle 
direct  tr'ade  between  the  western  cities  and  the  southern  plantations. 
To  present  a  detailed  table  of  traffic  receipts  at  New  Orleans  for  a 
series  of  years  is  impracticable,  because  the  units  of  measure  in  which 
the  products  are  set  down  vary  so  frequently  as  to  make  comparison 
difficult,  if  not  impossible.  An  incomplete  presentation  of  receipts 
in  tons  is  here  reproduced  from  the  Report  on  Internal  Commerce  for 
1SS7.  together  ^vith  a  statement  of  total  value  of  receipts.  The  latter 
is  partly  estimated  and  is  affected  by  currency  and  mai^ket  conditions. 
Xevertlieless,  the  general  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  it  is  obvious. 
It  should  be  noted  that  the  statistics  of  traffic  do  not  include  rafted 
products  or  goods  brought  to  market  in  small  boats  by  planters,  of 
which  no  record  was  kept,  but  do  include  products  received  by  way 
of  Lake  Pontchartrain,  principally  cotton,  which  varied  in  amount 
from  1  per  cent  to  6  per  cent  of  the  total. 

Tonnage  and  value  o/rereipla  at  Xew  Orleans  from  the  interior,  1801-1860. 


Year  ending  Sept.  30 — 

Quantity. 

Value. 

Year  ending  Sept.  30— 

Quantity. 

Tons 
327, 800 
399, 900 
437, 100 
401,500 
449,600 
399, 500 
537, 400 
i      542,500 

'"'' 



Value. 

1801 

Tons. 
.38.  .325 
45, 906 
49,  960 



67,  .560 

77,220 

94,560 

80,820 

100,880 

1.36, 300 

106. 706 

99. 320 

136,  4(K) 

129,  .500 

136,240 

176,420 

193,300 

235,200 

257,  .300 

245, 700 

260,900 

.307,300 

244,600 

291,700 

.S3. 649, 322 
4.47.5.364 
4.720,015 
4.27.5.000  \ 
4,371.545 
4,937,323 
5,-370,555 

mn 

1835 

1836 

1837 

18.38 

1839 

1840 

1841 

1842 

1843 

1844 

1845 

1846 

1847 

1848 

1849 

1850 

1851 

1852 

1853 

$29,820,817 
.37,566,842 
39,237,762 
43,51.5.402 
45, 627. 720 
42. 26;J,  880 
49,7()3,825 
49.822,115 
4.5,716,045 
.53.728,054 
(K).  094,*716 

1802. 

1803 

1804 

1805 

1806 

1807 

1814 

1815 

1816 

9,749,2.53 
8.773  379 
13,-501,036 
16.771.711  ! 
12,(537,079 
11.9(57,067 
!.■>,  126. 420 
14,473,725 
1.5,063,820  • 
19.044,640 
20,446,320  | 
21.730,887 
22,886,420 
20,7.57,26.5 
22,0&5,518 
26,044.820  i 
21,806,763  i 
28,2-38,432  ! 

1817 

1818 

67,199,122 

1819 

1820 

77,19.3,464 
90,(K53,256 
79, 779, 151 

1821 

1822 

81.989,692 
96,  S97, 873 
KXi,  924,083 

1823 

1824 

1825 

108,051,708 

1826 

134  233  735 

1827 

1854 

185.5 

1856 i 

1857 ■■ 

1858 

1859 

1860 

11 5.. 3.36,  798 

1828 

117,106.823 

1829 

144.2.56,  081 

1830 

1,58.061,369 

1831 

167, 1.5.5, 54t) 

18.32 

172,9,52,669 

1833             

185  211  254 

At  the  beginning  tlie  i)ro(hi(ts  were  miscelhmeous  in  character, 
but  they  gratUially  became  specialized,  southern  products  such  as 
cotton,  sugar,  and  molasses  predominating.  Cotton,  which  in  1816 
represented  only  12  per  cent  in  vahie  of  total  receipts,  came  to 
comprise  in  the  later  |)art  of  the  jjcriod  from  60  to  75  per  cent  of 
the  whole.  'Western  pnxhice,"  which  was  35  per  cent  in  value  of 
the  fot;il  I'eceipts  in  1S."){),  .iMKinnted  (o  oiilv  aboiil  21^  per  cent  in 
]S6(). 


TRAFFIC   HISTORY  OF   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER  SYSTEM.  17 

TIT. 

OHIO    RIVER    COMMERCE. 

Up  to  1820  and  for  some  little  time  thereafter  the  trade  of  the 
lower  Mississippi  took  its  origin  lar^^ely  in  the  Ohio  basin,  where 
settlement  was  most  advanced.  In  1820  the  State  of  Ohio  alone 
shipped  200,000  barrels  of  flour  by  river;  in  1824  the  total  exceeded 
300,000  barrels,  which  was  one-quarter  in  value  of  all  the  products 
w^hich  descended  the  Mississip))i. 

Durintr  this  ])erio(l  much  en<z;ineerin<ji;  work  of  varyin<i;  utility  was 
executed  on  the  Ohio  and  its  tributaries,  which  contributed  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent  to  the  efficiency  of  the  river  system.  vSo  far 
as  the  open  channel  of  the  Ohio  was  concerned,  improvement  work 
was  begun  as  early  as  1827,  although  little  of  value  was  accomplished 
before  I860."  Of  the  two  tributaries  at  the  head  of  navigation,  the 
Allegheny  was  given  up  entirely  to  flats  and  rafits  and  was  not 
navigable  for  even  the  lightest  draft  steamboats  except  during  high 
water.  So  long  as  the  supply  of  luml)er  upon  its  banks  endured 
it  furnished  traffic  for  the  river.  Some  of  the  lumber  in  the  form 
of  rafts  of  logs  was  floated  to  Cincinnati  and  below;  much  of  it  was 
converted  at  river  ports  into  flats  for  downstream  trading.  To  some 
extent  it  was  converted  into  boards  and  shingles  on  the  Allegheny 
and  brought  down  in  arks  to  Pittsburg,  where  the  arks,  relieved  of 
their  burden,  were  loaded  with  coal  for  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  and 
Natchez.  It  was  estimated  in  1848  that  one-quarter  of  the  lumber 
was  sold  at  Pittsburg  and  the  rest  was  carried  farther  dowai  the  Ohio. 

So  late  as  1859  it  w^as  stated  that  the  lumber  annually  run  down 
the  Allegheny  amounted  to  over  150,000,000  feet.** 

The  Monongahela  River,  which  in  its  original  condition  could 
float  light-draft  flats  and  rafts  in  high  and  medium  stages  of  water 
and  steamboats  at  high  water,  was  improved  by  a  private  corpora- 
tion— the  Monongahela  Navigation  Company — which  completed  six 
locks  before  1860,  two  of  them  near  Pittsburg  being  in  operation  in 
1841.  Upon  this  river  the  coal  trade  of  the  Ohio  originated — the 
one  form  of  river  traflic  which  has  persisted  with  any  vigor  to  the 
present  time.  This  trade  began  about  1840.  In  1844  the  total  ship- 
ments amounted  to  2,500,000  bushels.  By  1847  the  coal  handled 
was  about  12,000,000  bushels. 

lentil  1850  the  method  of  handling  was  by  means  of  large  flat- 
bottomed  boats  or  barges  about  125  feet  long  and  8  feet  deep.  Each 
boat  carried  from  12,000  to  15,000  bushels  of  coal.  They  were 
ordinarily  lashed  together  in  pairs  and  floated  dow^n  the  river  to 
destination,  there  to  be  sold  for  lumber.  Each  pair  rec{uired  the 
services  of  about  twelve  men.  Inasmuch  as  the  barges  drew  from 
5^  to  Ih  feet  when  loaded,  they  could  only  be  floated  safely  during 
seasons  of  high  water.  There  were  generally  two  such  stages  a 
year,  and  during  these  relatively  favorable  seasons  fleets  of  250  to 
300  barges  set  out  upon  their  journey.  Because  their  lading  brought 
them  so  near  the  bed  of  the  river  and  because  the}^  protruded  so 
little  above  the  water's  surface,  they  were  continuously  subject  to 

«  For  more  detailed   discussion  see   Report  of  Commissioner  of  Corporations  on 
Transportation  liy  Water  in  the  United  States,  Part  1,  1909. 
^Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  vol.  40.  p.  604. 

19830—09 2 


18  TRAFFIC   HISTORY   OF   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM. 

wreck  from  snags  and  rocks.     Soon  after  1850  the  method  of  towing 
coal  flats  by  steam  towboats  began. 

Other  tributaries  of  less  importance  which  were  impro^'ed  to 
create  more  efficient  connections  with  the  main  river,  were  the 
Muskingum,  upon  which  the  State  of  Ohio  constructed  eleven  locks 
and  dams,  completed  in  1840;  the  Kentucky,  Green,  and  Barren 
rivers,  improved  by  the  State  of  Kentuckj^  between  1835  and  1845 
by  the  construction  of  locks  and  dams;  and  the  Wabash  River,  upon 
which  a  lock  and  dam  was  built  by  the  Vrabash  Navigation  Com- 
pany, chartered  bv  the  States  of  Illinois  and  Indiana,  in  1846  and 
1847. 

Of  more  importance  to  the  commerce  of  tliis  section  than  any 
of  the  Oliio  River  tributaries  just  mentioned  were  the  Cumberland 
and  Tennessee  rivers,  both  navigable  for  several  hundred  miles  by 
steamboat.  Indeed,  the  Tennessee  River  with  its  tributaries  is 
navigable  for  steamboats  a  distance  of  1,300  miles,  and  for  rafts  and 
flats  an  additional  distance  of  more  than  1,000  miles.  Congress 
and  the  State  of  Kentucky  made  several  appropriations  for  the  im- 
provement of  the  Cumberland  between  1830  and  1840,  and  in  1846 
the  Cumberland  Navigation  Company  was  incorporated  to  improve 
navigation  below  Nashville,  but  little  was  accomplished  during  this 
period.  From  inland  points  in  Alabama,  Tennessee,  and  Kentucky 
by  way  of  these  two  rivers  came  a  large  quantity  of  cotton,  and  most 
or  the  tobacco  for  southern  markets  and  for  export.  Durino;  the 
few  montlis  of  the  je&r  when  the  stage  of  water  permitted,  flatboats 
were  extensively  emploj^ed  in  this  trade. 

Probably  the  most  important  piece  of  river  engineering  from 
the  standpoint  of  navigation,  was  the  building  of  the  Louisville 
and  Portland  Canal  around  the  falls  of  the  Ohio  between  Louis- 
ville and  Shippingport,  Ky.  This  was  constructed  by  a  private  cor- 
poration chartered  in  1825,  the  United  States  Government  buying 
a  majority  of  the  stock.  It  was  completed  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1830,  and  in  spite  of  the  imposition  of  what  seemed  to  be 
exorbitant  tolls  it  had  a  most  stimulating  influence  upon  river 
commerce.  Previously'  the  flats  and  steamboats  had  been  obliged 
to  transfer  their  freight  at  Louisville  to  other  craft  sailing  from 
Shij)]ungport,  below  the  falls,  necessitating  a  laborious  }K)rtage  of 
2^  miles,  or  else,  if  they  desired  to  make  the  through  trip,  the  run- 
ning of  the  rapids.  Either  expedient  involved  heavy  expense  and 
loss  of  time.  Running  the  rapids  meant  waiting  for  a  favorable 
stage  of  water,  with  loss  of  interest  on  capital,  additional  wages,  and 
loss  by  depreciation  in  the  value  of  products,  and  also  the  direct 
expense  of  pilotage.  Transfer  at  Louisville  meant  damage  to  goods 
arul  diayage  cost.  The  opening  of  the  canal  united  the  two  river 
lines  between  Pittsburg  and  New  Orleans  and  uninterru])ted  through 
traffic  was  possible.  Boats  which  had  l)een  limited  to  a  maximum 
load  of  000  tons  coukl  now  cany  1,700  tons.  During  the  year  1831, 
406  steand)()ats,  46  keel  boats,  and  357  flats,  a  total  of  76,323  tons, 
passed  through  the  locks. 

The  growth  in  steandjoat  tonnage  on  the  Ohio  may  l)e  observed 
from  the  statistics  of  the  Louisville  and  Portland  Canal.  The  varia- 
tion in  different  years  is  due  to  the  stage  of  water,  which,  when  suf- 
ficiently good,  diverted  the  boats  from  the  canal  to  the  direct  route 
over  the  falls.  Yet  the  figuics  show  a  fairly  steady  increase  in  number 
of  boats. 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI    RIVER   SYSTEM.  19 

Number  of  sirambnats  pausing  through  the  Louisville  and  Portland  Canal,  lS.31-1849 

1831 406 

1832 453 

1833 875 

1834 938 

1835 1,  256 

1836 1,  ]  82 

1837 1,  501 

1838 1 ,  058 

1839 ■ 1,  666 

1840 1,  231 

1841 1 ,  031 

1842 983 

1843 ] ,  206 

1844 ] ,  476 

1845 1,  585 

1846 1,  626 

1847 1 ,  432 

1848 1 ,  523 

1849 1,272 

Amono^  the  cities  alono;  this  commercial  route,  Pittsburg,  as  a 
result  of  its  stratcfjic  location,  early  assumed  a  position  of  importance. 
It  had  been  the  outfittint]:;  })ort  for  emigrants  in  the  pioneer  days,  and 
was  now,  because  of  its  situation  at  the  junction  of  the  Alleirheny 
and  M<)nono;ahela,  in  a  position  to  profit  by  the  extensive  traflic  in 
lumber  and  coal.  It  had  develo])e(l  into  an  important  shipbuilding 
center,  and  but  for  the  difhculties  of  upper  Ohio  navigation  and  the 
extraordinary  enterprise  of  the  Ohio  commercial  interests,  might 
have  overpowered  the  city  of  Cincinnati  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make 
of  it  merely  a  port  of  call. 

However,  Cincinnati  during  these  decades,  because  of  its  situation 
at  the  head  of  good  navigation,  became  one  of  the  leading  commercial 
cities  of  the  AVest.  During  the  entire  period  to  1860  it  was  surpassed 
in  ])oj)ulation  by  only  one  western  city,  Xew  Orleans,  and  in  the  census 
statistics  of  1850  and  1860  its  total  population  very  nearly  equaled 
that  of  the  seai)ort  city.  It  began  building  steamboats  in  1819,  and 
from  that  time  on  was  the  center  of  this  industr}'.  Wheeling,  a  little 
below  Pittsburg,  became  early  an  important  outfitting  point  for  flat- 
boat  traffic. 

Louisville,  at  the  head  of  the  falls  of  the  Ohio,  early  acquired  an 
importance,  because  it  was  the  transshi])})ing  ])oint  between  the  upper 
and  lower  river.  The  construction  of  the  Louisville  and  Portland 
Canal  did  not  tlo  away  altogether  with  this  geographical  division  of 
steamboat  lines,  and  Louisville  retained  its  place  of  im])ortance  as  a 
river  port  throughout  this  period. 

Evansville,  situated  equidistant  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  and 
the  falls,  was  an  important  distributing  point  for  a  well-settled 
territory;  its  largest  export  by  water  was  tobacco,  brought  in  from 
the  Kentucky  fields  across  the  river. 

On  the  lower  river,' the  more  important  ports,  aside  from  New 
Orleans,  were  Memphis,  Vicksburg,  and  Natchez.  Each  of  these,  in 
1843,  shi]iped  more  cotton  by  river  to  New  Orleans  than  it  did  in  1887. 
The  average  annual  shipments  of  Memphis  steamers  down  river  were 
100,000  bales,  of  Vicksburg,  75,000  bales,  and  of  Natchez,  50,000. 
Natchez  was,  however,  a  more  important  river  point  than  Vicksburg, 
because  it  was  the  center  of  a  more  populous  district.  Nashville,  on 
the  Cumberland,  was  the  center  of  a  rich  tobacco  country,  and  sent 
larj^e  numbers  of  steamboats  to  New  Orleans. 


20 


TBAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM. 


IV. 


UPPER    MISSISSIPPI    COMMERCE. 

The  section  watered  by  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi  was  occupied 
in  the  early  part  of  this  period  by  mihtary  garrisons  and  Indian 
traders.  But  it  became  before  the  war  a  region  of  active  settlement, 
and  furnished  to  the  river  a  large  amount  or  both  freight  and  passen- 
ger trafhc.  The  first  steamboat  that  ascended  the  upper  Mississippi 
is  reported  to  have  reachetl  Fort  Snelling,  near  St.  Paul,  in  1813.  But 
the  arrivals  from  that  date  until  1840  were  few  and  far  between,  as  the 
boats  could  be  used  only  to  transport  supplies  for  traders  and  troops. 

The  total  number  of  steamboat  arrivals  at  St.  Paul  for  the  years 
1844-1857  are  here  given,  together  with  the  length  in  days  of  the 
navigation  season. 

Number  of  steamboat  arrivals  at  St.  Paul  and  length  of  navigation  season,  1S44-1S57. 


Year. 

Steamboat 
arrivals. 

Length  of 

navigation 

season. 

Year. 

Steamboat 
arrivals. 

Length  of 

navigation 

season. 

1844 

41 
48 
24 
47 
63 
95 
104 

Days. 
231 
234 
245 
236 
241 
242 
239 

1851 

119 
171 
200 
256 
560 
837 
1,026 

Days. 
238 

1845 

1852 

1853 

1854 

1855 

216 

1846 

233 

1847                    ... 

223 

1848 

217 

1849 

1856 

1857 

212 

1850 

198 

The  sources  of  the  traffic  may  be  shown  in  a  general  way  by  a 
statement  of  the  ports  of  departure  of  steamboats  for  St.  Paul  during 
the  year  1857. 

Arrivals  of  steamboats  at  St.  Paul,  1857. o 
From— 

DuVjuque 123 

Prairie  du  Chien 138 

Galena 213 

Fulton 65 

St.  Louis 156 

(Mncinnati 12 

Pittsburp; 27 

On  the  way  to  the  Minnesota  River 292 

Total 1, 026 

The  years  1845  to  1860  covered  a  period  of  active  settlement  in  the 
Northwest,  and  the  Mississippi  was  the  most  available  moans  for 
reaching  the  new  territory.  Most  of  the  boats  woi-e  built  in  the 
shi[)yai(ls  along  the  Ohio.  They  were  operated  largely  by  their 
indivi(hial  owners.  Duiing  the  fifties,  when  Minnesota  was  rapidly 
preparing  for  statehood,  and  when  Wisconsin  and  Iowa  had  just  been 
received  into  the  Union,  the  demand  for  transportation  up  the  river 
far  exceeded  the  supply,  and  almost  any  price  was  ])aid  for  the 
privilege.  The  result  was  that  boats  often  paid  for  themselves  in  two 
years  out  of  their  earnings.     But  the  risks  of  snagging  and  burning 

oHunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  vol.  38,  p.  117. 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY  OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM.  21 

were  very  great,  and  the  depreciation  on  these  boats  was  conse- 
quently heavy.  The  best  boats  for  the  upriver  trade  were  the  stern- 
wheelers  of  200  to  300  tons,  which  were  not  liable  to  be  hindered  by 
the  midsummer  drouo;hts.  The  boats  that  made  the  larfjest  profits 
were  those  which  in  tlie  later  days  of  this  period  controlled  the  jobbing; 
business  and  the  railway  connections  at  certain  ports.  This  control 
was  effected  throu<]:;h  tiie  creation  of  j)o()ls  between  steamboat  oj)era- 
tors,  which  later  developed  in  many  instances  into  stock  companies." 

The  three  principal  paints  on  the  river  above  St.  Louis  were  Rock 
Island,  Galena  or  Dunleith,  and  Prairie  ilu  Chien.  The  immi^^rants 
who  settled  Minnesota  antl  Wisconsin  reached  the  river  at  these  points, 
beinii;  transported  that  far  by  rail  after  1854.  But  these  towns  were 
not  only  transfer  points  for  passengers.  Galena  was  at  this  time 
second  only  to  St.  Louis  as  a  wholesale  center.  Other  important  up- 
river  ports  were  Burlington,  Dubuque,  and  Davenport,  Iowa,  and 
Quincy,  111.  These  places  had  their  beginnings  as  river  junctions,  in- 
creased in  importance  as  connections  with  the  interior  became  closer, 
and  continued  even  after  the  advent  of  railways  to  confine  their 
interest  to  the  river  so  long  as  the  lumber  supply  endured.  They 
were  all  important  lumber-manufacturing  towns. 

The  freight  traffic  by  steamer  seems  to  have  been  of  the  miscel- 
laneous character  natural  in  an  exchange  between  primitive  com- 
munities lacking  railway  facilities.  Potatoes,  barley,  and  furs  are 
found  in  the  list.  Wooden  ware  was  shipped  from  St.  Paul  as  far 
south  as  St.  Louis.  One  of  the  principal  products  from  the  upper 
river  was  wheat,  which  was  shipped  in  2-bushel  sacks.  A  200-ton 
boat  would  carry  300  tons  of  grain.  There  were  also  shipments  of 
flour,  which  grew  in  importance  as  capital  was  invested  in  milling 
in  the  Northwest.  Flour  shipments  on  the  Mississippi  for  the  years 
1841-42  to  1844-45  were  as  follows: 

Shipments  of  flour  on  the  upper  Mississippi  River. 

Barrels. 

1841-42 439,  688 

1842-43 521, 175 

1843-44 502,  507 

1844-45 533,  312 

But  by  far  the  most  important  product  of  upper  Mississippi  trans- 
portation, from  the  beginning  until  its  decline  at  the  close  of  the 
century,  was  lumber.  This  was  handled  almost  entirely  in  rafts  or 
barges  propelled  by  steamboats. 

In  the  lower  section  of  the  upper  Mississippi  a  large  trallic  was  for 
many  years  carried  on  in  lead,  principalh^  from  the  Galena  mines, 
and  a  smaller  tratle  in  Wisconsin  copper.  Large  quantities  of  lead 
were  annually  transshipped  at  St.  Louis  for  New  Orleans,  amounting 
in  value  in  1843  to  more  than  SI, 000, 000,  and  estimated  to  be  worth 
3^  cents  per  pound.  A  small  ])art  of  this  total  came  from  ])oints  in 
Missouri  by  way  of  the  '\lissouri  River. 

a  Merrick,  Old  Times  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  1909. 


22  TKATFIC   HISTOEY   OF   MISSISSIPPI   EIVEE   SYSTEM. 

The  following  table  gives  the  shipments  of  lead  from  Galena, 
Dubuque,  and  all  other  up-river  ports  for  a  series  of  years: 

Total  shipyjicnts  of  lead,  in  pigs,  from  Galena,  Dubuque,  and  all  other  ports  of  upper 

Mississippi,  1841-1854-°' 

Pigs.i> 

1841  452,814 

1842 447,859 

1843 561,321 

1844 624,601 

1845 778, 460 

1846 732,  403 

1847 772,  656 

1849 590,  293 

1850 573,502 

1851 : 503,  571 

1854 402,343 

After  1854,  when  the  railway  reached  the  Mississippi,  the  lead 
traffic  on  the  upper  river  rapidly  disappeared. 

The  steady  growth  in  the  business  of  this  portion  of  the  river 
may  be  observed  from  the  statistics  of  steamboat  arrivals  at  St. 
Louis  from  the  upper  Mississippi  for  a  series  of  years.  These  include 
all  arrivals  from  Mississippi  River  ports  north  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Ohio. 

Arrivals  of  steamboats  at  St.  Louis  from  upper  Mississippi  ports,  1841-1852. 

1841 143 

1842 - 195 

1843 244 

1845 647 

1846 663 

1847 717 

1848 697 

1849 806 

1850 635 

1851 639 

1852 705 

The  uj)per  ^Mississippi  business  was  considerably  augmented  before 
it  reached  St.  Louis  by  that  of  the  Illinois  River  and  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  Canal.  The  latter  was  opened  in  1848,  and  while  inade- 
quate for  extensive  traffic,  it  furnished,  nevertheless,  some  freight 
to  the  Illinois  River  steamers,  which  transported  goods  back  and  forth 
between  Peoria  and  other  interior  Illinois  j)oints  on  the  one  hand, 
and  St.  Louis  and  points  on  the  Ohio  and  lower  Mississippi  on  the 
other. 

V. 

MISSOURI    RIVEH    COMMERCE. 

The  liallic  of  the  Missouri  River  has  never  reached  a  position  of 
great  imj)ortance,  and  statistical  material  bearing  upon  it  is  very 
meager.  Such  commercial  value  as  the  river  possessed  was  confined 
largely  to  the  period  preceding  ISGO,  and  even  then  its  service  con- 
sisted priiuipally  in  facilitating  the  fur  trade  and  carrying  products 
to  the  inilitiiry  garrisons  on  its  up|)er  reaches.     The  American  Fur 

*Prom  Hunt's  Merchant's  Magazine.  >>  A  pig  weighed  about  60  pounds. 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM. 


23 


Company  and  some  in(lcM)on(leiit  tiaders  employcMl  a  numljcr  of 
steam])oats  and  other  crait,  and  at  least  once  a  year  ascended  the 
river  to  the  mouth  of  tlie  Yellowstone  with  supplies  for  fur  trading, 
and  the  United  States  Army  carried  its  supi)lies  })y  boat  up  as  far  as 
Foi't  Benton.  So  late  as  ISGO  the  total  value  of  the  fui'  trade  of  St. 
Louis  was  $529, ()()(),  of  which  nearly  all  came  down  the  Missouri  River 
by  boat.  The  river  was  also  used  to  a  considei-able  extent  as  a  means 
of  approach  to  the  Santa  Fe  trail,  which  made  junction  with  the  river 
at  Independence.  The  i-iver  trade  ])ctween  St.  Louis  and  Santa  Fe 
was  valued  in  1848  at  S5()0,0()0  per  year. 

The  first  steamboat  ascended  in  1810,  and  from  then  on  steam- 
boating  slowly  developed.  River  navigation  for  the  years  1888-1843 
was  as  follows: 


Sleainboat  navigation  of  the  Missouri  River,  18oi>-lS4oM 


Year. 

Boats. 

Trips. 

1838  

17 
35 

28 
32 
29 
20 

96 

1839 

141 

1840 

147 

1841 

162 

1842 

88 

1843 • 

205 

a  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  vol.  18,  p.  103. 

The  arrivals  at  St.  Louis  of  boats  from  the  Missouri  River  for  the 
years  1845-1852  are  presented  in  tabular  form. 

Arrivals  of  steamboats  at  St.  Louis  from  the  Missouri  Eirer,  1845-1852. 

1845 249 

1846 256 

1847 314 

1848 327 

1819 355 

1850 390 

1851 301 

1852 317 

This  table  shows  that  commerce  did  not  develop  rapidly  in  this 
section.  The  hgures  are  more  significant  if  compared  with  the 
arrivals  from  tlie  upper  Mississip])i,  the  Illinois,  and  the  Ohio,  which 
were  much  in  excess  of  those  from  the  Missouri,  and  were  increasing 
rapidly.  Aside  from  the  difficulties  of  navigation  due  to  the  turbid 
and  uncertain  channel,  the  snags,  the  floods,  and  the  droughts, 
there  was  the  fundamental  condition  present  that  there  existed  on 
the  upper  Missoui-i  j)revious  to  1860  little  inchistrial  basis  for  an 
extensive  river  commerce.  After  1860,  tlie  railways  were  the  active 
agenc}"  in  the  settlement  of  this  section,  and  the  country  once  settled, 
this  more  efficient  means  of  transportation  was  almost  exclusively 
resorted  to.  The  Missouri  River  has  played  practically  no  part  in 
the  industrial  development  of  the  west. 


24  TBAFFIC    HISTORY   OF   MISSISSIPPI   RIVEE   SYSTEM. 

VI. 

ST.   LOUIS. 

St.  Louis  was  one  of  the  iinportaiit  river  cities  of  this  period.  It 
enjoyed  the  advantage  of  being  a  port  of  transshipment  for  a  very 
large  proportion  of  the  river  traffic,  and  was  the  great  wholesale 
center  of  the  Middle  West.  Most  lines  of  steamboats  engaged  in 
through  traffic  on  the  Missouri,  the  upper  and  lower  Mississippi,  and 
the  Ohio  had  St.  Louis  as  one  of  their  termini.  The  only  important 
exceptions  were  the  steamboat  lines  between  Ohio  River  points  and 
New  Orleans,  most  of  which  did  not  touch  St.  Louis  at  all. 

Hence,  b}^  reason  of  its  location,  there  are  found  among  the  receipts 
of  this  city  by  river  all  the  products  wliich  the  rivers  handled,  in- 
cluding the  grains  and  flour,  lumber,  lead,  pork,  lard,  and  bacon,  the 
southern  products,  sugar,  coffee,  and  molasses,  and  the  miscellaneous 
food  products.  In  and  out  of  this  metropolis  the  steamboats  also 
carried  what  was  for  the  time  an  enormous  passenger  business. 
Gold  seekers,  fur  and  Indian  traders,  immigrants,  pioneers,  and 
home  seekers  poured  into  St.  Louis  in  the  fifties,  and  found  their  way 
in  and  out  by  the  river  gate.  The  number  of  passengers  carried  on 
steamboats  to  and  from  St.  Louis  for  the  year  ending  September  30, 
1855,  is  reported  as  1,045,269."  The  central  location  of  this  city 
and  its  growing  commercial  importance  is  seen  from  a  statement  of 
the  steamboat  arrivals. 

Arrivals  of  steamboats  at  St.  Louis,  1839-1859. 

1839 1, 476 

1840 1,  721 

1841 1,928 

1844 2, 105 

1845 2,050 

1846 2,412 

1847 3, 069 

1848 3, 159 

1849 2,  905 

1850 2,  897 

1851 2,  628 

1852 3, 184 

1853 3,  307 

1855 3,  449 

1856 3,  065 

1857 ; 3,  443 

1858 3,160 

1859 : 3,  149 

VII. 

CANAL-LAKE    COMPETITION. 

The  first  danger  that  thn'iitciicd  the  continued  pros)KMity  of  river 
commerce  ciime  with  the  coni|)leti()n  of  the  Krie  Canal  in  1S25.  The 
people  of  the  Middle  West  and  of  the  Ohio  A'alley  were  not  slow  to 
realize  the  advantage  which  a  route  including  the  CJreat  Lakes  and  the 
Erie  Canal  would  have  in  reaching  seaboard  markets,  over  the 
2,000-mile  river  trip  to  New  Orleans  and  the  long  coastwise  jour- 


aHunt'8  Merchants'  Magazine,  vol.  33,  p.  637. 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI    RIVER   SYSTEM.  25 

ney.  So  early  as  1832  the  onterprisino;  population  of  X)hio  had  com- 
pleted canals  from  Portsmouth,  on  tiie  ()hio,to  Cleveland,  and  from 
Cincinnati  to  Toledo,  and  in  1S35  there  was  shij)j)e(l  from  this  State 
to  New  York,  by  way  of  the  ErieC^anal,  <S6,()()()  barrels  of  Hour,  98,000 
bushels  of  wheat,  2, 500, 000  of  staves,  and  much  miscellaneous  frci'^ht. 
The  Ohio  canals  were  built  for  local  reasons  and  it  was  the  local  trade 
which  sustained  them  durint:;  tlu  ir  years  of  j)rosj)erity.  Yet  they 
served  as  feeders  for  both  the  southern  and  eastern  routes  and  helped 
to  draw  traffic  away  from  its  old  course." 

Indiana  likewise  soufiiht  to  reach  eastern  markets  by  the  northern 
route,  and  constructed  a  canal  from  Evansville  northeastward  to  con- 
nect with  the  Cinciimati-Toledo  enteri)rise.  Both  in  Indiana  and 
Illinois  the  same  competitive  conditions  existed  as  in  Ohio,  but  with  a 
stronu'er  tendency  in  the  former  toward  the  river  route.  Not  only 
did  sliipments,  by  way  of  the  Krie  Carnal,  particularly  of  wheat  and 
flour,  steadily  increa.  e,  but  the  PcMUisylvania  Canal  also  transj)orted 
a  variety  of  products,  includino;  tobacco,  which  had  formerly  gone 
down  the  river,  and  took  manufactures  from  about  Pittsburg,  and 
large  ciuantities  of  lard,  bacon,  and  other  western  produce.  It  im- 
ported various  manufactured  goods  and  household  supplies  for  the 
people  of  the  upper  Ohio  Valley.  In  1846,  Buffalo  for  the  first  time 
exceeded  New  Orleans  in  its  receij)ts  of  flour  and  wheat. 

The  Cincimiati  Price  Current  in  1852  contained  a  letter  from 
Cincinnati  merchants  urging  the  greater  cheapness  of  the  northern 
route,  and  making  the  folhnving  comparative  estimate  of  the  cost  of 
shipping  a  single  hogshead  of  tobacco  from  Louisville: 

BY   NORTHERN    ROUTE. 

Dray,  Louisville $0.  25 

Frei<!;ht  to  Cincinnati 1.  05 

Charges  in  Cincinnati 50 

Freight  by  canal  and  lake 7.  75 

Insurance 1.12 

10.67 

BY    SOUTHERN    ROUTE. 

Dray,  Louisville $0.  50 

Freight  to  New  Orleans 2.  50 

Insurance  to  New  Orleans 62 

Charges  in  New  Orleans 1.  75 

Freight  by  shij) 7.  00 

Insurance 2.  00 

14.37 

The  point  of  highest  traffic  on  the  Ohio  canals  was  reached  in  1857, 
when  the  total  amount  carried  was  1,635,744  tons.  B}'  1850  the  line 
of  division  between  products  moving  south  to  the  river  and  north  to 
the  Lakes  had  become  rather  clearly  tlefined,  and  w'as  somewhere 
near  the  center  of  the  State.  The  tendency  of  breadstufl's  was 
toward  the  Lakes,  as  already  indicated,  but  beef,  lard,  pork,  bacon, 
antl  corn  still  went  mostly  by  river.  This  was  in  part  due  to  the 
natural  distribution  of  the  su])ply  of  ])roducts  in  the  State,  ami  in 
part  to  the  location  of  the  denumd  for  the  tlilferent  kinds  of  produce. 

o  Gephart,  Transportation  and  Industrial  Development  in  the  Middle  West,  pp. 
118-119. 


26  TEAFFIC    HISTORY-   OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM. 

But  it  appears  certain  that  the  river  trade  did  not  suffer  seriously 
from  the  competition  of  eastward  water  routes  during  the  period 
1825  to  1850.  Kather  was  it  changing  its  character  and  inchuUng  a 
larger  proportion  of  southern  and  a  sniaUer  proportion  of  western 
products. 

The  following  tables  give  the  value  of  products  received  at  the 
seaboard  and  the  movement  toward  the  interior  in  1851  by  the 
various  routes: 

Reported  value  of  products  received  at  seaboard,  1851  .^ 

Via  the  Mississippi $108, 051,  708 

Via  canals  and  the  Hudson 53,  027,  508 

Via  the  St.  Lawrence 9, 153,  580 

Via  the  New  York  railroads 11,  405,  350 

Movement  toward  the  interior,  1851. 

Via  the  Mississippi $38,  874,  782 

Via  the  Hudson  and  canals 80,  739,  899 

Via  the  St.  Lawrence 10,  956,  793 

Via  the  Xew  York  railroads 44,  556,  000 

These  tables,  besides  showing  the  relative  importance  of  Mississippi 
River  traffic,  bring  out  the  preponderance  of  export  over  import 
traffic  at  Xew  Orleans  referred  to  elsewhere. 

VIII. 

RATES    AND    FARES. 

No  satisfactory  material  is  available  on  the  question  of  rates  during 
the  period  preceding  the  introduction  of  railways  into  the  West,  and 
only  general  statements  may  here  be  ventured.  In  1819,  when 
steamboating  on  western  rivers  was  first  freed  from  the  Fulton 
monopoly,  through  passenger  rates  upstream  were  about  10  cents 
per  mile,  varying  somewhat  for  the  longer  distances,  and  12^  cents 
per  mile  for  way  passengers.  The  downstream  rate  was  about  6 
cents  per  mile.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  these  rates  included 
board  en  route,  and  allowance  should  be  made  for  this  in  comparing 
them  with  modern  rates.     A  few  typical  fares  may  be  quoted. 

Passenger  fares  by  steaviboat,  1819. 


Miles. 

Fares. 

New  Orleans  to  Natchez 

2C3 

9()1 
1,328 
1,328 

3G7 
1,065 

129 

$30 

New  Orleans  to  month  of  Ohio 

95 

New  fjriean.s  to  falls  of  Ohio 

125 

Falls  of  Ohio  to  New  (Jrleans 

75 

Kalis  of  Ohio  to  mouth  of  Ohio 

20 

Falls  of  Ohio  to  Natchez 

UO 

Cincinnati  to  Louisville 

12 

On  the  u|)])('r  Mississippi,  the  fares  had  fallen  by  1810  to  from  4  to  5 
cents  per  mile  for  short  distances  and  3  cents  ])er  mile  for  loitg  dis- 
tances. Deducting  the  jirice  of  meals  and  stateroom,  the  charge  was 
from   li   cents   to   8  cents  per  mile.     Deck  passengers,  who   were 

oRingwalt,  Devclojunent  of  Transportation  Systenifi  in  the  United  States,  p.  121. 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM.  27 

expected  to  provide  their  own  food,  traveled  at  fares  wliicli  frequently 
did  not  exceed  a  half  cent  per  mile,  and  this  they  could  still  further 
reduce  by  assistin^j  the  crews  to  gather  fuel  at  the  various  sto]>])ing 
places. 

There  were  no  such  thin<i;s  as  typical  frei<xlit  rates  durint^  the  era  of 
steaniboating.  Rates  varied  widely  with  the  suj)ply  and  demand  of 
boats,  the  stao;e  of  water,  and  the  quantities  of  freight  oliered,  and  it  is 
difficult  to  give  any  itlea  of  them  at  all.  For  example,  one  writer 
quotes  a  rate  in  1819  of  15  cents  per  100  ])ounds  from  Cincinnati  to 
Louisville,  or  2.3  cents  per  ton-mile,  and  another  rate  in  the  same  year 
from  Cincinnati  to  St.  Louis  of  50  cents  per  100  pounds,  or  $1.44  per 
ton-mile.  Gephart  states"  that  the  freiglit  rates  from  New  Orlenns  to 
northern  cities  in  1822  were  as  follows:  General  merchandise,  3  to  4 
cents  per  pound;  cotton,  1  cent  per  pound;  sugar,  $7  per  barrel. 
These  rates  were  probably  not  more  than  half  as  high  as  the  rates 
charged  before  the  appearance  of  steamboats.  So  early  as  1839, 
rates  were  quoted  from  New  Orleans  to  St.  Louis  of  75  cents  per  100 
pounds  or  $0,013  per  ton-mile,  and  from  New  Orleans  to  Louisville  of 
50  cents  per  100  pounds,  or  $0,008  per  ton-mile,  the  latter  rate  being 
lower  because  of  the  greater  Qompetition  on  this  line.  In  seasons 
when  a  good  stage  of  water  prevailed,  between  1850  and  1860,  freight 
was  carried  from  Pittsburg  to  St.  Louis  and  Nashville  at  43  mills  per 
ton-mile,  and  from  Pittsburg  to  New  Orleans  at  36  mills  per  ton-mile. 
Merrick''  states  that  freight  rates  varied  on  the  upper  Mississippi  in 
the  fifties  from  25  cents  per  100  pounds  for  short  distances,  to  SI. 50 
per  100  pounds  from  Galena  to  St.  Paul,  the  latter  being  nearly  10 
cents  per  ton-mile.  No  package  was  carried  for  less  than  25  cents. 
To  the  rates  themselves  must  be  added  the  cost  of  marine  insurance, 
which,  because  of  the  hazardous  nature  of  the  steamboat  business, 
was  a  very  heavy  expense.  In  1840  the  insurance  rate  quoted  was 
about  If  per  cent  of  the  value  of  the  goods  for  a  distance  of  about  200 
miles  above  New  Orleans;  then  it  steadily  increased  to  4  per  cent  and 
above  on  the  upper  Mississippi.  On  the  Ohio  the  rates  varied  from  2^ 
to  3f  per  cent,  on  the  Misso\u'i  from  3^  to  6^  per  cent.'^ 

Downstream  rates  for  both  passenger  and  freight  traffic  were 
usually  lower  than  those  levied  on  upstream  business,  because,  the 
time  consumed  being  less,  the  cost  of  operation  was  less  in  fuel 
and  power  expended,  and,  in  the  case  of  the  passenger  business, 
the  expense  of  boarding  the  passengers  was  reduced.  But  these 
factors  might  be  entirely  offset  by  the  su])ply  of  and  demand  for 
space  in  the  two  directions  at  diflFerent  seasons  of  the  year.  In  fact 
too  much  reliance  should  not  be  placed  upon  any  casual  statement 
of  rates  or  fares,  because,  being  subject  to  no  control  whatever  except 
such  as  the  laws  of  trade  enforced,  steamboat  captains  chargetl  in 
all  cases  what  the  traffic  would  bear.  It  was  frequently  much  more 
advantageous  to  a  prospective  passenger  to  pay  the  exorbitant  fare 
demanded  than  to  stay  in  port  and  take  his  chances  with  the  next 
boat,  and  a  shipper  had  to  get  his  products  to  market  at  any  cost. 
The  days  of  ]n'osperous  steamboating  were  the  days  of  unregulated 
monopoly,  and  the  variations  in  water  depth  and  the  uncertainties 

a  Transportation  and  Industrial  Development  in  the  Middle  West.  p.  98,  note, 
bold  Times  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  1909. 
'"Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  vol.  2.  p.  80. 


28 


TRAFFIC   HISTOEY   OF   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER  SYSTEM. 


of  travel  often  so  crowded  the  limited  traffic  season  that  in  the 
direction  of  traffic  movement  passengers  and  shippers  were  wholly 
at  the  mercy  of  the  steamboat  captains.  Small  wonder  that  boats 
were  often  paid  for  out  of  the  earnings  of  a  couple  of  years.  Yet 
they  were  continuously  liable  to  destruction  from  snags,  bars,  col- 
Usions,  explosions,  and  burning.  And  even  if  they  survived  these 
terrors,  so  flimsily  were  tliey  built  and  so  recklessly  were  they  run 
that  most  of  them  were  unfit  for  service  after  five  years. 

The  following  table  is  made  up  fi-om  monthly  quotations  of  rates 
on  typical  shipments  on  two  steamboat  lines  which  were  operating 
where  conditions  were  probably  more  stable  at  the  time  than  on 
any  other  part  of  our  inland  waterway  system: 

Summary  of  monthly  quotations  of  river  rates  of  freight,   Cincinnati  to  New  Orleans, 

1849-185S.a 


Product  shipped. 

1848-49. 

1849-50. 

1850-51. 

1851-52. 

1852-53. 

$0. 30-$0. 75 
.40-    .75 
.  45-  2. 50 

$0.25-51.25 
. 25-    .  875 
.40-  1.00 

$0.35-81.00 
.40-    .90 
.50-  1.50 

SO.  30-$0.  75 
.35-  1.00 
.45-  2.50 

$0.30-81.00 

Pork,  per  barrel 

.35-  1.00 

Whisky,  per  barrel 

.50-2.00 

Summary  of  monthly  quotations  of  river  rates  of  freight,  Cincinnati  to  Pittsburg,  1849- 

1853a 

Product  shipped. 

1848-49. 

1849-50. 

1850-51. 

1851-52. 

1852-^3. 

Whisky,  per  barrel 

$0. 35-Sl.  50 

$0.35-$0.75 
.10-    .55 

$0.33-50.75 
.10-    .25 

$0.30-$1.50 
.10-    .50 

$0.35  -$1.50 

Merchandise,  per  100  pounds 

.10-    .50 

.125-    .75 

a  From  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine. 

IX. 


SPEED    AND    ACCIDENTS. 

Steamboat  disasters  on  the  Mississippi  during  the  forty  years  from 
1810  to  1850  have  been  thus  summarized:*^ 

Total  number  of  steamboats  lost 1,  070 

Tonnage 85,  256 

Cost .$7, 113,  940 

Persons  killed  and  injured 4, 180 

Many  of  the  accidents  were  due  to  conditions  of  navigation  over 
which  the  navigators  had  no  control,  but  many  more  were  due  to 
reckless  steamboating.  So  long  as  there  was  no  rail  competition, 
speed  was  an  ol)iect.  A  speed  record  was  a  profitable  means  of 
advertising,  and  the  de.^ire  to  attain  it  led  to  racing  and  resulted  fre- 
quently in  collisions  and  explo.sions. 

Steaml)()ats  were  being  steadily  perfected,  and  the  length  of  time 
consumed  between  river  })()rts  was  constantly  reduced.  The  average 
rate  of  speed  on  the  Mis.sissippi  and  Ohio  in  1840  was  about  6  miles 

f)er  hour  upstream  and  10  to  12  miles  downstream,  but  this  rate  was 
reriuently  exceeded. 

The  following  tables  sliow  tlie  increase  in  steamboat  power  during 
the  [)erio(l  up  to  lS(i(). 

«  Report  on  Internal  Commerce  of  the  United  States,  1887. 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM.  29 

Average  time  of  steamboats  between  points  nam^d.c- 


Year. 


Time. 


New  Orleans  to  St.  Louis 1815 

1823 

1826 

1     1828 

I     1800 

New  Orleans  to  Louisville i    1819 

1826 
1840 

Louisville  to  New  Orleans 1819 

1826 
1840 
1819 
1840 
1819 
1840 


Louisville  to  Cincinnati. 
Cincinnati  to  Louisville. 


2.5  days. 
12  days. 
9  days,  12  hours. 

9  days,  4  hours. 

3  days  (running  time). 
20  days. 

10  to  14  days. 
6  days. 

10  days. 
6  days. 

4  days. 
40  hours. 
15  hours. 
18  hours. 

11  hours. 


a  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  vol.  48. 

The  following  are  taken  from  a  list  of  speed  records  of  individual 
boats :  ** 


New  Orleans  to  Cairo  (961  miles) 

New  Orleans  to  Louisville  (1,328  miles). 

New  Orleans  to  Cincinnati  (1,457  miles). 


Time. 


6  hours,  44  minutes. 

3  hours,  40  minutes. 
1  hour,  1  minute. 

,  2  hours,  4  minutes. 
.  4  hours,  20  minutes. 
,  10  hours. 

4  hours. 
14  hours. 
20  hours. 

9  hours,  19  minutes. 
18  hours. 
12  hours. 


X. 


THE    BEGINNING    OF    RAILWAY    COMPETITION. 

With  the  appearance  of  railways  in  the  West  begins  the  downfall 
of  river  commerce.  In  order  to  make  clear  the  manner  in  which 
railways  invaded  the  territory  previously  served  by  the  waterways, 
the  following  table  is  presented,  showing  the  more  important  rail- 
way lines  opened  for  business  previous  to  1860  which  touched  any 
one  of  the  waterways  under  consideration,  together  with  the  date  of 
opening,  the  water  terminus  of  the  line,  and  the  present  name  of  the 
corporation: 

Table  of  'principal  western  railways,  1841-1860. 


Name  of  railway. 

Date 

of 
open- 
ing. 

Water  terminus. 

Present  name  of  owning  or  con- 
trolling corporation. 

OHIO. 

Little  Miami 

1846 
1851 

Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  and 

St.  Louis. 
Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  and 

Cleveland,  Columbus  and  Cincin- 

 do 

nati. 
Cleveland  and  Pittsburg 

1852 

1857 

Cleveland,  Pittsburg.. 
Cincinnati 

St.  Louis. 
Pennsvlvania. 

Marietta  and  Cincinnati 

Baltimore  and  Ohio. 

b  Report  on  Internal  Commerce  of  the  United  States,  1887. 


30  TEAFFIC   HISTORY   OF   MISSISSIPPI  EIVER  SYSTEM. 

Table  of  principal  uestern  raihcarjs,  1841-1860 — Continued. 


Name  of  railway. 

Date 

of 
open- 
ing. 

Water  terminus. 

Present  name  of  owning  or  con- 
trolling corporation. 

INDIANA. 

1847 

1  1853 
1854 

1858 

1851 

1854 
1855 

1855 
1856 
1856 
18&4 

1857 

1857 
1858 

1853 
1859 

1850 

1854 
1850 
1837 
1858 
1859 

1859 
1841 

Madison 

Across  the  State 

New  Albany 

Pittsbujg,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  and 

Indiana  Central 

Indianapolis  and  Terre  Haute 

St.  Louis. 
Do. 
Chicago,  Indianapolis  and  Louis- 

ville. 
Evansville  and  Terre  Haute. 

KENTUCKY. 

Louisville 

Rock  Island 

Louisville  and  Nashville. 

ILLIXOIS. 

Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific. 

Galena  and  Chicago  (jointly  with 
Illinois  Central). 

Galena 

Chicago  and  Northwestern. 

Alton 

Chicago  and  Alton. 

Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quiney... 
Illinois  Central                

Quincy 

Cairo,  Dunleith 

Alton,  111 

Cincinnati,  Ohio;  East 
St.  Louis,  111. 

Prairie  du  Chien 

La  Crosse 

Chicago,  BurUngton  and  Quincy. 
Illinois  Central. 

Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  and 

St.  Louis. 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Southwestern. 

WISCONSIN. 

Milwaukee  and  Prairie  du  Chien 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul. 
Do. 

MISSOURI. 

Pacific  of  Missouri  (40  miles) 

St.  Louis 

Hannibal,  St.  Joseph.. 

Chattanooga 

Missouri  Pacific  and  St.  Louis  and 

San  Francisco. 
Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph. 

TENNESSEE. 

Western  and  Atlantic  of  Georgia 

Nashville,    Chattanooga    and    St. 

Nash\nlle,Chattanooga 
Chattanooga 

Louis. 
Do. 

Norfolk  and  Western. 

Memphis,Chattanooga . 

Southern. 

East  Tennessee  and  Virginia 

Do. 

Columbus,   Kv.;   Mo- 
bile, Ala. 

Louisville,  Ky.;  Nash- 
ville, Tenn. 

Vicksburg 

Mobile  and  Ohio. 

Louisville  and  Nashville. 

MLSSISSIPPI. 

Alabama  and  Vicksburg. 

It  appears  from  this  table  that  railway  builtlino;  in  the  West  began 
in  the  decade  1840-1850,  and  that  the  practice  of  building  compara- 
tively short  railway  lines  to  connect  with  the  waterways  developed 
rapidly  diiriniz;  the  next  decade.  These  water  and  rail  junctions  were 
cstabHshod  all  llie  way  down  the  Ohio  and  lower  Mississippi  and  on 
the  upper  Missi.ssi|)|)i  us  far  north  as  La  Crosse,  Wis.,  as  well  as  on  the 
Cumberland,  Tennessee,  and  Missouri.  Among  these  junction  points 
were  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Louisville,  Ky.,  Madison,  New 
Albany,  and  Evansville,  Lid.,  on  the  Ohio  Kiver;  Chattanooga,  Tenn., 
on  the  Tennessee  River:  Nashville,  Tenn.,  on  the  Cund)erla.nd  River; 
Cairo,  111.,  Columbus,  Ky.,  Mem|)his,  Tenn.,  and  Vicksburg,  Miss.,  on 
the  lower  Mississippi;  St.  Louis  and  Hannibal,  Mo.,  Alton,  Quincy,  Rock 
Island,  (lalenn,  and  Dunleith,  111.,  Prairie  du  Chien  and  La  Crosse,  Wis., 
on  the  ui)per  Mi.ssissii)j)i;  and  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  on  the  Missouri  River. 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM.  31 

There  is  some  basis  in  this  situation  for  the  statement  so  often  made 
that  railways  at  the  beginninjij  were  merely  short  lines  conneetino:  in- 
terior eommunities  with  waterways  and  were  intenfh'd  to  suj)|)lement 
and  not  eonijx'te  with  waterway  facilities. 

For  examj)le,  the  Vickshiir^  and  Jackson  acted  merely  as  a  tribu- 
tary to  the  river  and  transported  cotton  from  the  inteiior  for  ship- 
ment. Its  business  in  cotton  <i;rew  from  34, 001  bales  in  ](S47  to  97,868 
bales  in  1853."  The  Penn.sylvania  Railroad  for  a  time  after  reaching 
Pittsburg  was  dependent  upon  the  Ohio  for  trafhc  connections  with 
the  West.  The  president  of  the  Madison  and  Inilianapolis,  in  his 
annual  report  for  1850,  made  the  following  statement: 

The  wharfa.o-e  in  front  of  the  freight  depot  at  Madison  has  been  completed.  The 
Cincinnati  and  Louisville  i)ackets  now  receive  and  discharge  their  freight  and  pas- 
sengers at  this  point. 

One  reason  why  railways  at  the  beginning  did  not  at  once  supersede 
the  waterways  was  that  it  was  some  time  before  they  were  properly 
organized  and  equipped  to  carry  freight.  The  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
in  1831  had  carried  only  593  tons  of  freight,  but  had  transported 
81,905  passengers.  The  Cincinnati,  Hamilton  and  Dayton  was 
opened  in  1852  for  the  operation  of  passenger  trains  only.''  It 
refjuircMl  some  effort  on  the  part  of  railways  to  draw  the  bulky  freight 
away  from  the  waterways. 

Yet,  if  the  policy  of  cooperation  prevailed  at  the  beginning  it  had 
only  a  brief  term  of  existence,  for  the  economic  conditions  were  such 
as  to  drive  railways  inevitably  into  the  position  of  competitors. 
Referring  again  to  the  railways  mentioned  in  the  table,  it  may  be 
noted  that  in  Ohio  the  Little  Miami,  in  connection  with  the  Mad 
River  Railroad,  formed  in  1848  the  first  through  line  between  Lake 
Erie  and  the  Ohio  River,  and  that  a  second  through  line  was  created 
in  1851  by  the  Little  Miami  and  the  Cleveland,  Columbus  and  Cin- 
cinnati. These  highways  across  the  State  were  inclined,  like  the 
canals,  to  divert  trallic  northward  to  the  Lakes  and  thence  to  the 
eastern  markets.  But  it  was  not  long  that  the  Lakes  had  to  be 
relied  upon  for  transportation  eastward.  The  trunk  lines  of  the 
Atlantic  seaboard,  spurred  on  by  the  rivalry  of  the  seaboard  cities, 
were  pushing  their  way  rapidly  westward,  and  many  of  them  took 
their  course  through  the  advantageous  opening  south  of  the  Lakes 
and  north  of  the  mountains  offered  by  the  State  of  Ohio.  The  last 
link  ])etween  Chicago  and  New  York  in  what  is  known  to-tlay  as  the 
"Vanderbilt  system"  was  completed  between  Cleveland  and  Toledo 
in  1853.  The  Cleveland  and  Pittsburg,  which  formed  a  part  of  the 
Pennsylvania,  began  operations  in  1852,  and  the  Pittsburg,  Fort 
Wayne  and  Chicago  reached  Chicago  in  1858,  forming  the  first  con- 
tinuous line  through  Ohio  from  tlie  Ohio  River  to  Chicago.  The 
Baltimore  and  Ohio,  as  it  passed  through  the  State,  extended  its 
line  to  Cincinnati  in  1857  by  means  of  the  Marietta  and  Cincinnati. 
The  State  of  Ohio  was  therefore  b}'  1860  opened  up  by  rail  lines 
in  all  directions.  The  same  influences  were  at  work  elsewhere. 
Across  the  State  of  Indiana  ran  several  hues,  including  the  Indiana 
Central  and  the  Indianapolis  and  Terre  Haute.  The  Tcrre  Haute 
and  Alton  and  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  both  paralleled  the  Ohio  River 

o  Report  on  Internal  Commerce  of  the  United  States,  1887. 
t>  Gephart,  op.  cit.,  p.  172. 


32  TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER  SYSTEM. 

and  reached  out  to  the  Mississippi.  The  New  Albany  and  wSalem, 
opened  in  1854,  was  the  first  Hne  entireh'  within  the  State  of  Indiana 
connecting  the  Ohio  Kiver,  at  the  foot  of  the  falls,  with  the  Lakes. 

Farther  south  railroad  buildino;  was  less  advanced,  yet  even  in  that 
territory-  roads  from  the  East  were  seeking  western  waterway  connec- 
tions, with  no  other  possible  purpose  than  to  turn  traffic  eastward  which 
had  earlier  been  moving  west  and  south.  For  example,  the  Western 
and  Atlantic  of  Georgia  opened  a  route  from  Atlanta  to  Chattanooga 
on  the  Tennessee  River  in  1850,  the  Virginia  system  of  railroads 
made  connection  with  the  same  city  through  the  opening  of  the  Vir- 
ginia and  Tennessee  in  1856  and  the  East  Tennessee  and  Virginia 
in  1858.  At  the  same  time  Chattanooga  was  pushing  its  influence 
westward,  and  had  secured  a  connection  with  Nashville  on  the  Cum- 
berland in  1854  and  with  Memphis  on  the  Mississippi  in  1857.  Two 
years  later  there  was  direct  connection  by  rail  between  liouisville 
on  the  Ohio  and  Xashville,  and  between  Mobile,  Ala.,  and  Columbus, 
Ky.,  on  the  Mississippi,  a  short  distance  below  Cairo.  In  1860  the 
Vicksburg  and  Jackson  was  extended  to  jSIeridian,  where  it  met  the 
Mobile  and  Ohio,  and  thus  made  possible  the  diversion  of  trafuc 
from  the  Mississippi  eastward. 

On  the  upper  Mississippi  the  first  railroad  connection  with  Chi- 
cago was  made  at  Rock  Island  in  1854.  Previous  to  this  time  only 
a  small  proportion  of  the  exports  of  Illinois  had  been  sent  to  market 
by  the  Lakes  and  the  Erie  Canal.  The  Illinois  River,  navigable  to 
within  100  miles  of  Chicago,  and  the  ^Mississippi  along  the  western 
border  of  the  State,  had  given  a  southerl}^  direction  to  a  good  share 
of  its  products.  All  the  products  of  the  west  bank  of  the  ^Mississippi 
and  tlie  greater  part  of  those  of  the  east  bank  had  gone  to  New  Orleans. 
But  now  all  was  to  be  changed.  The  Rock  Island  connection  with 
the  jMississippi  was  followed  by  junctions  at  Galena  and  Alton  in 
1855,  and  the  next  year  the  Illinois  Central  had  a  line  paralleling 
the  river  all  the  way  from  Dunleith,  opposite  Dubuque,  to  Cairo. 
Lines  also  connected  Milwaukee,  on  Lake  Michigan,  with  Prairie  du 
Chien  and  La  Crosse,  on  the  Mississi|)pi,  in  1857  and  1858.  West  of 
the  river  there  were  no  railways  of  importance  previous  to  1860, 
except  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph,  opened  in  1859,  the  Mississij^pi 
and  ^Iissouri  from  Davenport  to  Iowa  City,  Iowa,  55  nu'les,  and  the 
Pacific  Railroad,  constructed  westward  from  St.  Louis  for  a  short 
distance. 

That  these  various  short  roads  to  the  Mississippi  and  the  Ohio 
ceased  construction  for  a  time  with  the  attainment  of  their  river 
junctions  was  due  in  no  sense  to  the  fact  that  they  regarded  themselves 
as  waterway  feeders.  The  leading  causes  for  the  suspension  of  rail- 
road building  were  found,  first,  in  the  financial  situation  which 
culminated  in  the  panic  of  1857;  second,  in  the  disturbance  to  busi- 
ness and  credit  wnich  came  with  the  civil  war;  and  third,  to  tlie 
didiculties  in  the  way  of  l)ri(lging  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi.  The 
first  two  causes  recpiire  no  discussion.  The  bridge  problem  was  an 
interesting  one.  A  highway  drawbridge  had  been  erected  over  the 
Ohio  at  Wheeling  in  IS  10,  and  between  1853  and  1856  the  Chicago 
and  Rock  Island  iiad  huiU  a  bridge  across  the  Mississippi  between 
Rock  Island  and  Daxcnport  to  make  connection  with  the  Missis- 
sippi and  Missouri  ivaih'oad  in  Iowa.  Botli  bridges  had  ])een  built 
by  stat(!  authorization  alone,  and  without  th(>  sanction  of  Congress. 
Both  interfered  seriously  with  navigation.      For  these  reasons  further 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI    RIVER   SYSTEM. 


33 


bricl<;iii<:;  was  bitterly  f()ii<rlit.  The  ()])|)().siti()n  ol"  steainl)()at  interests, 
prompted  in  part,  at  least,  by  a  desire  to  cheek  railroad  advance  and 
compel  alliance  with  the  waterways,  had  a  le<j:itimate  l)asis  in  the 
contention  that  unless  brid<i,('s  were  j)rovided  with  draws,  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  smokestacks  and  pilot  lupuses  of  iJic  steamboats  would  be 
necessary,  and  that  unless  the  piers  were  placed  wide  apart,  and 
spans  of  500  feet  were  constructed,  raftin<;  and  bar<;in^  would  be 
seriously  hampered.  ( 'on<j;ressional  investif^ation  followed,  resulting 
in  oeneral  leijislation  under  which  bri(l*!;es  were  built  in  the  late 
sixties  and  in  the  seventies.  Then  the  railways  continued  their 
course  west  and  south,  or  made  lines  continuous  which  were  already 
in  existence  on  eitluM'  bank  of  the  river;  but  until  congressional 
authorization  had  been  secured,  the  railways  rested  in  tlieir  westward 
and  southward  advance. 

Even  in  the  decade  previous  to  the  civil  war  the  railways,  with 
their  through  lines  from  Chicago  to  New  York  and  their  connections 
with  the  Mississippi  and  the  Ohio,  had  already  begun  to  draw  traffic 
eastward,  and  to  diminish  the  river  commerce  to  New  Orleans  in 
northern  products,  or  in  what  was  known  in  New  Orleans  as  "western 
produce."  This  may  be  shown  in  a  general  way  by  presenting  a 
table  whicli  gives  for  the  eleven  years  j)receding  the  war  the  value  of 
"southern  produce,"  in  detail,  and  the  aggregate  value  of  other 
products,  mainly  from  the  North  and  West. 

Value  of  receipts  of  produce  at  New  Orleans,  1850-1860.C 


Year  ending 
September  30— 

Cotton. 

Sugar. 

Mola.s.ses. 

'■-^bacco.         pOth-, 

Total. 

1850 

$41,885,150 
48.750.704 
48.592.222 
08,759.424 
54.749,002 
51.390,720 
70,371,720 
80,255,079 
88.127.340 
92.037.794 

109,389,228 

812,390,150 
12,078,180 
11, 827,. 350 
15.452.688 
15,720.340 
18,025,020 
10,199,890 
8,137,300 
17,900,008 
24.998.424 
18,190,880 

82,400,000 
2,025,000 
4.020,000 
5,140,000 
3,720,000 
1.25.5.0tX) 
4.582.242 
2.085.300 
4.001.015 
0.470.817 
0,250,335 

$0,100,400       $34,049,173 
7,730,000  1      35.127.539 
7,196,185  i       30,409.9.-)! 
7.938.660  1      37.442,973 
4.228,100         30,912,7.50 
7,111,370  !      30,424.713 
7.982,800  ;       45,119,4-29 
U. 892.120  i       49,091.510 
13.028,327         42.798.2.50 

$90,897,873 

1851 

100,924,083 

1852 

108,0.51.708 

1853. 

1.34.233,735 

1854 

115.330,798 

1855 

117,100,823 

1850 

144,256,081 

1857 

158.001,369 

1858 

107.155.546 

1859 

1800 

9,101.750 
8,499,325 

40.283,879 
42,881.480 

172,9.52,609 
185,211,254 

While  the  vahie  of  receipts  at  New  Orleans  during  these  3'ears  in- 
creased !)3  per  cent  and  while  receipts  of  cotton  increased  166  per 
cent,  sugar  50  per  cent,  molasses  160  per  cent,  and  tobacco  about  33 
per  cent,  both  sugar  and  tobacco  having  been  still  higher  in  value 
in  some  of  the  intervening  years,  the  value  of  "other  products"  in- 
creased only  26  per  cent.  These  statistics  do  not  show  quantities, 
iience  final  conclusions  can  not  be  drawn  from  them,  but  they  clearly 
show  the  tendency,  inuring  the  years  1854-1858,  western  produce 
represented  but  18  per  cent  of  the  total  receipts  at  New  Orleans  as 
compared  with  61  ])er  cent  in  the  early  years  of  river  commerce.** 
Traffic  in  large  cpuintities  still  continued  to  be  handled  on  the  Ohio 
between  Cincinnati  and  Pittsburg  and  between  Cincinnati  and  St. 
Louis,  and  also   to  a  considerable  degree  on  the  upper  Mississippi 

"Report  on  Internal  Commerce  of  the  United  States,  1887. 
19830—09 3 


34  TRAFFIC   HISTORY   OF   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM. 

as  far  south  as  St.  Louis,  but  dependence  upon  New  Orleans  as  a 
market  was  being  crradually  lessened. 

The  year  immediately  ])recedin2;  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  1859-60, 
was  the  best  year  on  the  river  for  New  Orleans.  The  city  received  the 
heaviest  shipments  and  the  steam  river  tonnage  entered  at  the  ])ort 
was  the  largest  ever  recorded.  There  reached  New  Orleans  that  sea- 
son b}'  river  2,187,560  tons  of  freight,  and  the  total  river  trade  of  the 
city  was  valued  at  $289,565,000."  The  significant  fact  concerning 
this  trade,  however,  was  its  comparatively  local  character.  Of  the 
total  steamboat  arrivals  at  New  Orleans  for  the  year  1859-60, 
amounting  to  3,540,  1,835  were  from  the  State  of  Louisiana  and  576 
from  the  neighboring  States  of  Mississippi,  Arkansas,  and  Texas. 
New  Orleans  had  no  railway  worth  mentioning  in  1860,  but  the  city 
controlled  the  entire  river  trade,  commerce,  and  crops  of  the  State  of 
Louisiana.  By  means  of  the  Red  River,  she  secured  a  hold  on  the 
crops  of  northern  Texas.  The  greater  portion  of  Indian  Territory,  the 
larger  part  of  Arkansas,  all  the  Ouachita  and  Arkansas  valleys,  a  por- 
tion of  the  White  River  trade  running  up  into  Missouri,  were  at  the 
command  of  the  Crescent  City.  The  State  of  Mississippi  was  subject 
to  New  Orleans,  except  for  its  eastern  portion  through  which  the  Mobile 
and  Ohio  Railroad  now  ran.  Western  Tennessee  and  a  large  portion 
of  Kentucky  still  sent  their  products  south,  and  probably  one-fifth  of 
the  produce  of  the  Ohio  Valley  and  one-third  of  that  of  the  u])per 
Mississippi  still  found  its  way  to  New  Orleans.  But  the  significant 
thing  was  that  the  western  produce  then  moving  south  was  wholly 
for  local  consumption  and  not  for  export.  It  was  to  supply  the 
planters  with  food  products  and  supplies,  in  order  that  they  might 
devote  their  attention  exclusively  to  cotton  raising.  The  export 
business  in  northern  products  had  turned  eastward. 

The  traffic  of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  rivers  and  their  tributaries 
had  been  ta])ped  at  many  points.  Produce  formerly  traveling  to  New 
Orleans  by  flatboat  from  tlie  upper  Tennessee  was  now  carried  largely 
to  Charleston,  Savannah,  and  other  seaboard  cities.  The  receipts  at 
New  Orleans  from  northern  Alabama  were  less  in  1860  than  in  1845, 
notwithstanding  a  steady  gain  in  the  prosperity  of  that  section.  At 
Cincinnati  a  large  portion  of  the  flour  and  grain  formerh"  sent  down 
the  Ohio  now  went  to  Pittsburg  by  river  and  thence  by  rail;  or  by 
canal  to  Toledo,  and  thence  by  lake  and  canal  or  rail  to  the  seaboard, 
or  to  some  slight  extent  ''  all  rail."  With  the  establishment  at  Galena 
of  through  connections  with  the  east  in  1855,  the  lead  trade  on  the 
river  which  had  gone  via  New  Orleans  to  New  York  and  Europe 
suddenly  droi)ped  off  and  soon  disa|)peared  altogether. 

At  Cincinnati,  for  the  year  1857,  there  were  received  a  total  of 
886,900  tons  of  merchanclise,  and  there  were  shipped  528,110  tons, 
of  which  a  little  over  10  per  cent  in  and  out  was  handled  by  rail. 
This  was  an  increase  of  17  per  cent  in  rail  tonnage  over  the  year 
previous.  At  Louisville,  in  1857,  13  per  cent  of  the  flour,  8  per 
cent  of  the  wheat  29  per  cent  of  the  corn,  26  per  cent  of  the  whisky, 
and  10  jx'rcent  of  the  coffee  were  received  by  rail.  At  St.  Louis,  of 
the  Hour  received  in  barrels  15  per  cent  came  by  rail  in  1857,  27  per 
cent  in  1858,  and  3:5  j)er  cent  in  1859.  I)aveii|)or(,  Iowa,  the  river 
terminus  of  the  Mississij)})!  and  Missouri  Railroad,  opposite  Rock 
Island,  111.,  received  in  1857  large  quantities  of  lumber,  shingles, 

« Report  on  Inleriial  Coiniueire  of  the  United  States,  1887. 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI    RIVER   SYSTEM.  35 

railroad  iron,  coal,  and  corn  1)V  way  of  the  Chicafijo  and  liock  Island 
Railroad,  and  wheat,  pork,  Hour,  and  wool  from  the  West  by  the 
Mississippi  and  Missouri  llailroad.  By  way  of  the  river  the  principal 
product  received  was  lumber,  which  amounted  to  nearly  twice  that 
received  by  rail.  The  aggregate  exports  and  imports  for  the  year 
were  estiniated  at  93,683  tons,  of  which  87  per  cent  was  handled 
by  rail.  But  Davenport  had  tlie  first  bridge  across  the  Mississippi, 
and  thereby  had  earlier  secured  rail  connections  with  the  P^ast. 

The  following  table,  presenting  the  shipments  of  flour  and  grain 
in  bushels  from  Chicago  for  a  series  of  years,  shows  in  a  striking  way 
the  influence  of  railway  extension  westward  from  the  city.  It  will 
be  observed  that  in  1854,  the  fh'st  year  of  railway  connection  with  the 
Mississippi  River,  the  shipments  were  doubled. 

Total  shipments  cnstivord  of  flour  and  (jrain/rom  Chicago,  1838-1863.  « 

Bushels. 

1838 78 

1839 3,  678 

1840 10,000 

1841                                                         40, 000 

1842 586,  907 

1843 688,  907 

1844                                                 923,494 

1845 1 , 024,  620 

1846 1 ,  599,  819 

1847                                                             2,243,201 

1848 3,  001,  740 

1849                                                         2,  895,  959 

1850 1,  858,  928 

1851 4,646,591 

1852 5,  873,  141 

1853 6,  422, 181 

1854                                                             12,902,320 

1855                                                         16,633,645 

1856 21,583,221 

1857                                                 18,032,678 

I860                                             31,109,059 

1863 54,741,839 

pLThese  instances  cited  do  not  completely  cover  the  extent  and  power 
of  the  railroad  influence  in  the  decade  before  the  war,  but  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  go  further  into  detail.  The  examples  are  tyi)ical  of  the 
situation. 

The  develo])ment  of  transportation  agencies  before  ISGO  may  be 
summarized  broadh^  by  the  statement  that  up  to  1850  watev  routes, 
including  the  coastwise  and  gulf  lines,  constituted  the  principal  w^ays 
of  freight  movement,  while  the  business  on  the  Lakes  and  interior 
rivers  was  increasing.  Railways  were  preeminently  passenger  lines. 
Before  1850  railways  in  the  East  had  begun  to  compete  with  the  water- 
ways, but,  so  far  a.s  they  existed  at  all  in  the  West,  they  were  feeders 
to  the  water  lines.  Cojnpetition  with  the  waterways  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley  came  frojn  the  water  route  formed  by  the  Hudson,  I^lrie  Canal, 
and  Lakes,  with  the  cooperation  of  short  railway  feeders.  But  in  the 
decade  1850-1860  railways  made  a  good  beginning  toward  the  assump- 
tion of  that  competitive  relationship  which  was  soon  to  prove  so  dis- 
astrous to  the  water  lines.  In  some  instances  the  competition  by 
1860  had  become  so  serious  as  to  endanger  the  existence  of  river 
traffic. 

o  Monthly  Summary  of  Commerce  and  Finance,  January,  1900. 


DECLINE  OF  RIVER  COMMERCE  AFTER  1860. 


THE    WAR    AND    THE    RAILWAYS. 

The  war  served  at  once  to  close  all  southern  ports  to  commerce, 
and  destroyed  the  greater  part  of  the  river  trade.  Steamboats 
continued  to  a  small  extent  to  ply  the  waters  of  the  upper  Mississippi 
and  the  Ohio,  but  throu<:;h  traffic  southward  ceased  altoo;ether. 
Railway  buildino;  continued.  The  rail  lines  which  most  seriously 
threatened  river  commerce  were  located  north  of  the  Ohio,  and  were 
undisturbed  by  military  operations.  Although  hampered  b}^  lack 
of  capital,  extension  of  lines  was  not  wholly  checked,  and  the  progress 
in  railway  l)uil(ling  made  (hu'ing  the  time  of  disturbance  was  suflicient 
to  increase  materially  their  competitive  power.  Bridges  across  the 
Mississippi  and  Ohio  were  authorized  by  Congress  in  1866,  and  the 
connections  between  the  two  banks  of  the  river  were  soon  thereafter 
made.  The  building  of  the  Union  Pacific  gave  an  added  impetus  to 
the  westward  moving  railways,  all  of  which  were  eager  for  this 
transcontinental  connection.  The  Union  Pacific  was  opened  in  1869. 
In  1867  the  Chicago  and  Nortii western  and  the  Chicago,  Burlington 
and  Quincy  controlled  lines  reaching  to  the  Missouri  River.  In 
1869  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific  was  running  througli  trains 
from  Davenport  to  Council  Blufi's,  and  early  in  1870  the  Illinois 
Central  was  operating  under  lease  a  line  from  Dubuque  to  Sioux  City. 
In  1867  a  line  was  completed  from  Milwaukee  to  St.  Paul  via  Prairie 
du  Chien.  The  Pacific  Railroad  of  Missouri  was  completed  from 
St.  Louis  to  Kansas  City  in  1865.  Farther  south,  where  the  ravages 
of  war  were  more  severe,  progress  was  naturally  slower.  Mobile 
and  New  Orleans  were  united  by  rail  in  1870,  and  in  1874  a  continuous 
line  had  been  formed  from  Chicago  to  New  Orleans  paralleling  the 
Mississippi  by  the  extension  northward  to  join  the  Illinois  Central  at 
Cairo  of  the  New  Orleans,  Jackson  and  (ireat  Northern  and  the 
Mississippi  Central. 

The  following  table  shows  the  growth  in  railway  mileage  from 
1851  to  1868  in  the  States  bordering  the  rivers.  It  will  be  observed 
that  in  all  excei)t  the  Southern  States  there  was  railway  building 
during  the  war  period,  and  that  in  some  cases,  notably  Illinois,  Iowa, 
and  Ohio,  th(>  progress  from  1860  to  1865  was  remarkable. 

37 


38  TBAEFIC   HISTORY   OF   MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  SYSTEM. 

Total  number  of  miles  of  railway  in  designated  States,  1851-1868. 


State. 

1851. 

1855. 

1860. 

1865. 

1868. 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois 

638 
86 
116 

1,486 
1,406 

887 

2,946 
2,103 
2,790 

3,331 

2,217 

3,157 

213 

1,010 

891 

925 

567 

1,296 

38 

898 

335 

40 

122 

3,398 

2,600 

3,440 

572 

i87 
68 
139 
242 
466 

905 
655 
817 
534 
1,253 
38 
862 
335 

1,235 

1,523 

1,354 

Kentucky 

93 

813 
1,436 

86 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 

60 
50 

278 
203 

898 
335 
648 

920 

Diirino;  this  period  of  waterway  inactivity  the  raihvays  were  not 
only  extending:  their  lines,  but  they  were  makins;  more  efficient  their 
existing  facilities.  Consolidation  of  connecting  lines  into  single 
systems  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  efficiency  of  long-distance 
operation  was  proceeding  rapidly.  In  the  sixties  appeared  the  first 
of  the  fast  freight  lines,  which  facilitated  enormously  the  handling  of 
through  business  from  the  West.  Cooperation  of  railways  in  the  con- 
struction of  union  stations,  connecting  tracks,  and  similar  facilities 
increased  in  the  decade  1860  to  1870.  It  is  interesting  to  observe 
that  one  of  the   causes  assigned  for  the  building  of  cars  by  ship- 

Eers  was  the  fear  of  the  railways  that  the  restoration  of  river 
usiness  after  the  war  would  have  such  a  serious  effect  upon  their 
business  that  it  would  be  unwise  for  them  to  make  the  necessary  out- 
lay themselves.  The  fact  that  northern  agricultural  production 
actually  increased  during  the  war"  and  that  there  was  a  growing 
demand  in  Europe  for  our  breadstuffs  were  favoring  conditions. 
Shippers  became  accustomed  to  the  new  transportation  agency. 
They  found  it  more  eflicient,  and  it  relieved  them  of  the  burden  of 
marine  insurance.  In  short,  business  relationships  were  established 
which  carried  over  after  the  waterways  were  again  available,  and, 
except  at  certain  periods  when  circumstances  were  exceptional,  the 
rivers  did  not  even  approach  their  former  position  of  im])ortance. 

The  consolidation  of  connecting  railway  links  had  given  the 
eastern  trunk  linos  control  of  their  western  connections,  and  with  it 
the  power  to  reach  out  to  the  source  of  traffic  and  control  its  transit. 
By  the  end  of  the  sixties,  the  railways  had  gained  a  considerable 
degnic  of  coididcuice  in  theii  ability  to  c()m])ete  with  western  rivers 
and  lakes.  In  1809  it  was  said  that  grain  could  be  moved  by  rail 
from  St.  Louis  to  the  north  Atlantic  seaboard  for  a  much  smaller 
sum  than  the  usual  rate  for  carrying  it  from  St.  Louis  by  steamboat 
to  New  Orleans.  In  1872  the  railways  carried  to  market  83  per  cent 
of  the  grain  and  provisions  of  the  West.''  Tiie  overland  movement 
in  cotton,  which  liad  iun<»unt(ul  in  1852  to  only  175  bales,  reached 
109,000  biiles  in  1800,  350,000  hi  1870,  and  1,134,000  in  1880. 
When  business  wms  resumed  on  the  river  in  1805  the  Cincinnati 
Price-Current  estimjited  the  decline  in  the  shij)m(Mit  of  western  pro- 
duce south   by  river  at   from   75  to  90  per  cent,   the  produce  still 


"  Sliij)tiiftiiH  of  flour  am!  K'niin  from  Chicago  east  increased  from  31,000,000  bushels 
1  iw;(l  lo  r,r,, OOO.OOO  ImihIioIs  in  I8(i;}.     Sec  lahlc,  p.  ;}5. 
'^  Iliiigwall,  op.  (it.,  p.  liM. 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY    OF    MlSSISSirPI    UIVER    SYSTEM.  39 

shii)pod  in  this  manner  beinoj  for  local  consumption  only.  The 
(liveision  of  commerce  from  river  to  rail  at  St.  Jjouis  was  aided  by  the 
fact  that  in  river  traflic  transfers  at  this  point  were  necessary. 
Because  of  the  shallowness  of  the  upper  river,  vessels  of  much  less 
draft  o})erated  abov(^  tlu^  city  than  below.  Because  of  this  break 
in  shipment,  the  railways  found  their  oj)portunity  to  step  in  and  take 
the  busintvss. 

Passen_tj;ers  naturally  s()uji;ht  the  more  rapid  means  of  travel,  and  the 
passen<i;er  steamboat,  whicli  had  played  such  apart  in  the  settlement 
of  the  West,  be<!;an  after  the  war  to  diminish  in  importance.  Passen- 
j:;er  transportation  is  now  confined  to  excursion  trips  southward 
in  the  winter  and  northward  in  the  summer,  and  to  ferry  and  short- 
distance  local  service.  Stenmboats  have  since  1860  been  constructed 
with  special  reference  to  the  carrying  of  freight.  Since  the  war, 
also,  has  appeared  on  a  larger  scale  the  towboat,  or  pro])eIling  steamer, 
built  with  powerful  engines,  stern  wheel,  and  shallow  draft,  to  handle 
the  tows  of  barges,  flats,  or  rafts.  It  has  been  a  factor  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  coal  trade  of  the  Ohio  River,  it  played  a  necessary 
Sart  in  the  development  of  the  barge  line  between  St.  Louis  and 
ew  Orleans,  and  it  has  been  and  is  still  regularly  engaged  in  the 
declining  rafting  operations  of  the  upper  Mississippi.  Its  stern 
wheel  gives  it  peculiar  facility  in  backing  and  turning  and  in  handling 
its  tows  and  rafts  successfully  around  the  innumerable  sharp  bends  in 
the  rivers.  The  barge  became  employed  extensively  as  a  freight 
carrier,  because  the  shallow  depth  of  the  rivers  made  a  develop- 
ment of  steamboat  capacity  w4th  vessels  of  deep  draft  an  impossi- 
bility. It  was  necessary  to  devise  a  shallow  craft  which  could 
spread  out  over  the  water  and  which  could  be  loaded  above  the 
water  line  rather  than  below  decks.  By  this  change  in  transporta- 
tion methods  a  very  great  reduction  in  cost  was  obtained. 

With  the  exception  of  the  civil  war,  there  was  probably  no  single 
influence  which  played  so  large  a  part  in  diverting  traflic  from  the 
lower  Mississippi  to  the  railways  as  the  condition  of  the  mouth  of 
the  river.  So  long  as  exports  from  New  Orleans  were  carried  in 
clipper  ships  with  sharp  keels  which  drew  when  loaded  not  more  than 
16  to  18  feet,  there  was  a  reasonable  probability  that  they  could  get 
over  the  bar  in  Southwest  Pass  with  tlie  aid  of  towboats.  Doubtless 
the  poor  channel  diverted  some  commerce  from  this  port,  yet  the 
demand  for  cotton  abroatl  led  vessels  to  make  special  effort  to  reach 
New  Orleans,  and  commerce  at  this  port  continued  to  grow.  But 
with  a  change  in  build  and  size  of  snipping  seeking  the  port,  the 
shallow  entrance  became  impracticable.  When  there  was  added  to 
this  the  unreasonable  charges  and  the  ar])itrarv  regulations  of  a 
monopolized  towboat  company,  the  situation  became  intolerable.  It 
was  not  relieved  until  1877,  when  the  Eads  jetties  at  South  Pass  were 
completed.  Towing  charges  and  insurance  rates  both  fell  at  once, 
and  the  dangers  of  stranding  and  the  costs  of  delay  were  no  longer 
to  be  feared.  There  have  been  other  physical  difficulties  also  in  the 
way  of  the  development  of  lower  Mississippi  commerce.  Aside  from 
those  due  to  a  shifting  chaimel  and  the  presence  of  snags,  ice  and 
low  water  have  been  constant  hindrances.  Between  St.  Lotus  and 
Cairo,  navigation  has  been  regularly  suspended  for  a  greater  or  less 
time  each  year  because  of  ice.  The  average  number  of  days  of  inter- 
ruption per  year  for  the  ten  years  1871   to  1880  was  thirty-iive.     A 


40  TRAFFIC    HISTORY    OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM; 

more  serious  interference  over  this  same  stretch  has  been  the  frequent 
low  water,  due  both  to  hick  of  water  supply  and  to  the  sediment 
brought  down  by  the  Missouri.  The  full  advantages  of  river  com- 
merce can  not  be  attained  unless  boats  which  draw  8  feet  of  water 
when  loaded  can  be  employed.  At  times  vessels  ch'awing  only  4  feet 
could  alone  be  used  at  what  is  estimated  to  have  been  double  the 
cost.  The  Select  Committee  of  the  Senate  on  Transportation  Routes 
to  the  Seaboard  found  that  during  the  nine  years  1865  to  1873  the 
average  number  of  days  in  whicli  the  water  was  less  than  8  feet  was 
one  hundred  and  fifty  nine.  For  the  ten  years  1871  to  1880  the  aver- 
age was  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  days.  From  1900  to  1909, 
however,  dredges  have  continuously  maintained  an  8-foot  depth  dur- 
ing the  navigation  season.  Below  Cairo  a  9-foot  navigation  is  sel- 
dom obstructed  by  either  ice  or  low  water.  The  frequently  reiter- 
ated charge  that  certain  kinds  of  products  were  injured  by  the  climate 
of  New  Orleans,  and  that  this  had  led  to  a  diversion  of  traffic  east- 
ward, was  investigated  by  the  Select  Committee  on  Transportation 
Routes  to  the  Seaboard  in  1874,  and  found  to  have  no  legitimate 
basis  except,  possibly,  to  some  shght  extent  in  tiie  case  of  corn. 

The  passage  of  the  interstate-commerce  act  in  1887  aroused  the 
well-nigh  forlorn  hope  of  the  steamboat  interests.  These  interests,  as 
a  rule,  had  not  been  able  to  raise  their  rates  because  of  the  sharp 
competition  of  inchvidual  steamboat  owners.  They  had  watched  the 
raihvays  lower  their  rates  at  competitive  water  points  until  they  had 
taken  the  business,  and  then,  to  some  extent,  at  any  rate,  recoup 
themselves  by  higher  exactions  from  shippers  at  inland  points  which 
had  no  water  facilities.  The  interstate-commerce  law  forbade  dis- 
crimination, and  complaints  were  promptly  presented  to  the  com- 
mission with  reference  to  the  river  situation.  But  two  months  after 
the  passage  of  the  act  the  commission  rendered  a  decision  in  the 
petition  of  the  Louisville  and  Nashville  Railroad  and  others,  reliev- 
ing the  roads  from  the  necessit}^  of  conforming  to  the  long  and  short 
haul  clause  where  water  competition  was  present.  With  this  deci- 
sion went  the  last  hope  of  the  steamboat  men  that  they  could  main- 
tain themselves  against  the  su])eri()r  service  of  the  railways,  and 
orders  for  new  steand^oats,  which  had  been  held  u])  awaiting  the  com- 
mission's action,  were  canceled. 

II. 

OHIO  KiVEH  ('<)>im?:rce. 

An  the  Ohio  Kiver  \'alley  had  earliest  develoj)ed  its  waterway  as  an 
eflicieiit  transj)ortali()ii  agency,  so  it  was  the  hi'st  to  be  iiilluenced  by 
the  cxten.'-ion  of  railways.  By  1875  the  iour  leatling  east  and  west 
trunk  lines  with  western  connections  at  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Louisville, 
and  C  incinuiiti  had  become  the  imi)ortant  commercial  highways,  and 
had  greatly  indiieiiced  the  coiii'se  of  trade  in  the  States  south  of  the 
Ohio  and  of  Missouri.  The  commercial  centers  of  this  section  were 
now  St.  Louis,  Ijouisville,  and  (  iiiciiHiali,  in  competition  with  Mobile, 
New  Orleans,  and  (ialvesjon.  The  three  foimer  drew  their  suj)j)lies 
j)rin(i|)iilly  i'roni  At lantic  seapoits.  By  1880  (  incinnati  had  I'ealized 
the  I'utihty  ol  the  waterway  as  an  aid  in  the  conipet itix'e  struggle, 
and  in  that  yeai'  had  completed  her  (  incinnati  Southern  Ivailway  to 
( 'hat  t  anooga  wit  li  t  he  purpose  of  securing  a  grip  on  sout  liern  territory. 


TRAKFIC    IIISTOKY    UK    M  ISSlSSU'l'l    KIVKK    SYSTEM.  41 

C/ompetition  between  the  two  forms  of  tiunspoitiition  liud  a 
steiulyinji;  effect  upon  water  rates.  The  river  rates  had  earher  been 
(letcnnined  wholly  by  the  supjjly  of  and  demand  for  trans|)ortation, 
and  this  had  been  inlluenced  <;"reatly  by  the  condition  of  na\i<iation. 
But  by  1870  it  ap|)eared  that  an  eidiancemcnt  of  the  water  rate  dur- 
infi;  a  season  of  low  water  had  a  tcMulency  to  divert  traffic  to  the  rail- 
way, and  that  the  boats  could  therefore  no  lon^<'r  enjoy  the  full  benefit 
of  their  situation.  To  some  extent,  agreements  for  jjnnatin^  on 
thr<)uj2;h  traffic  were  entered  into  between  rail  and  water  lines.  For 
example,  the  Chesa])eake  and  Ohio  prorated  with  Ohio  steamboats 
on  an  allowance  of  two  miles  of  waterways  for  one  of  rail.  These 
agreements,  however,  were  diflicult  to  arran<2;e  and  to  keej)  in  force 
because  of  the  lack  of  boatin*:;  or^ianization  and  the  necessity  of 
makin<i;  contracts  with  so  many  indixidual  steamboat  owners. 
Nevertheless,  ))roratini:;  arran<;ements  l)etween  railways  and  the 
])ackets  ojx'ratinjx  on  the  Ohio  for  the  pur])ose  lar^i;ely  of  handlin*:; 
Pittsburg  steel  i)roducts  continued  until  about  1900,  when  they  wei'e 
terminated  in  response  to  the  desire  of  railways  serving  the  Pitts- 
burg district." 

The  gradual  absorption  of  the  general  merchandise  traffic  of  this 
whole  section  by  the  railwaj^s  may  be  illustrated  in  the  commercial 
development  of  Cincinnati.  The  trade  of  this  city  was  until  about 
1S()()  chi(>lly  (lepend(>nt  upon  the  Ohio  River  and  its  connections,  ex- 
cej)t  for  that  portion  of  its  products  which  went  north  by  canal  and 
the  Lakes,  "^riie  outbreak  of  the  war  arrested  the  commerce  of  Cin- 
cinnati, and  the  diversion  of  traflic  to  the  railways,  following  upon  the 
restoration  of  normal  industrial  conditions,  not  only  made  Louisville 
and  St.  Louis  more  active  competitors  of  Cincinnati  than  before,  but 
also  brought  Chicago  into  the  field  as  a  pow  erfnl  rival.  The  river  trade 
was  inactive  from  1861  to  1872,  the  down-river  traffic  below  Louis- 
ville being  limited  by  the  capacity  of  the  Louisville  and  Portland 
Canal,  which  admitted  oidy  boats  of  a  maxinnim  capacity  of  GOO  to 
700  tons.  In  that  year,  lioweA^er,  the  enlarged  canal  was  completed. 
Two  years  later  the  tolls  were  reduced  and  in  1880  were  abolished 
altogether.  These  improvements  made  p()ssil)le  the  employment  of 
boats  of  1,700  tons  upon  an  unimpeded  river  and  gave  some  impulse 
to  river  commerce.  But  so  rapidly  did  traffic  on  the  Ohio  decline 
that  by  1887  there  was  but  one  regular  steamboat  line  between  Cin- 
cinnati and  New  Orleans.  No  boats  ran  from  New  Orleans  to  the 
Cund)erland  and  Tennessee  rivers,  and  there  was  no  regular  Louis- 
ville boat. 

The  following  table  of  Cincinnati  ex})orts  shows  the  steadily 
increasing  ])i'ei)onderance  of  rail  traffiQ: 

Exports  from  Cincinnati,  1855-1880. b 


Year  ending  August  31— 

Shipped  by 
river. 

$20,733,234 
77,498,017 
43,832,099 
45,537,607 

Shipped  by 
rail  and  canal. 

1855 

$18,044,160 

1865 

110.292.294 

1875 

157  571  924 

1880 

208. 2S9,  tiOO 

"Report  of  Commissioner  of  Corporations  on  Transportation  by  Water.  Part  II. 
b  Report  on  Internal  Commerce  of  the  United  States,  1880. 


42 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY    OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM. 


The  shipments  by  canal  were  a  small  and  declining;  amount,  and 
the  large  })roportion  of  slii])ments  shown  in  the  second  column  were 
handled  by  the  railways. 

The  sanie  tendency  may  be  also  illustrated  by  a  table  of  steamboat 
arrivals  at  Cincinnati  for  a  series  of  years. 

Number  of  arrivals  of  steamboats  at  Cincinnati,  1848-1880. 


Year. 

From  New 
Orleans. 

From 
Pittsburg. 

From 
St.  Louis. 

From  other 
ports. 

Total. 

1848                        

319 

880 

292 
210 
206 
111 
U5 
27 
93 

2,499 
1,809 
2,264 
3,127 
2,339 
2,442 
2,785 

3,780 

1855 

159                  407 
185                  330 

2,585 

1860 

2,985 

1865                             

41 
107 

71 
103 

211 

151 

62 

182 

3,490 

1870 

2,712 

1875 

2,602 

1880                    

3,163 

The  only  arrivals  in  which  there  has  not  been  a  shar]:>  decline  are 
those  from  "other  ports,"  which  consist,  principally,  of  local  and 
ferry  service. 

The  following  table  gives  the  steamboat  trafhc  out  of  Cincinnati 
for  the  years  1855  and  1905,  and  shows  its  change  in  character  and 
its  marked  decline.  The  comparison  is  disturbed,  but  not  wdiolly 
destroyed,  by  the  variety  of  units  of  measure  em])loyed: 

Principal  shipments  by  river  from  Cincinnati,  1855  and  1905. 
(Compiled  from  reports  of  Cincinnati  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  Merchants'  Exchange.] 


Article. 


Ale,  beer,  and  porter barrels. 

Alcohol do . . . 

Apples,  green do . . . 

Beef do. . . 

Do tierces . 

Beans barrels . 

Brooms dozens. 

Butter barrels. 

Do tubs. 

Do firkins,  kegs. 

Butterine pounds . 

Bran,  etc sacks. 

Bagging pieces. 

Cattle head . 

Candles boxes . 

Castings pieces. 

Do tons. 

Cement  and  plaster barrels. 

Cheese casks. 

Do boxes . 

Coffee bags. 

Do sacks . 

Cooperage pieces . 

Corn : busliels . 

Do sacks . 

Corn  meal barrels. 

Cotton bales. 

Crockery packages,  cases,  etc. 

Eggs barrels. 

Do -. cases . 

Feathers sacks. 

Do pounds. 

Flour barrels. 

Fnilt,  dried potmds. 

Do bushels. 

Fresh  iii(>at.s pounds. 

Fumiturc packages. 


1855. 


19, 956 
3, 427 

17,584 

13,977 
1,297 

18,275 
1,300 


24, 196 


11,456 
2,485 

10,285 
131,191 

80, 263 
2,073 


4 
102,352 


42,283 
108, 105 


64,344 
2,772 
10, 021 


5,014 
'7,'3i9' 


199, 276 
"is, 029' 


1905. 


9,523 
'3,664 


440 
56,630 


916 


231 
3,591 


7,615 
10,079 


11,083 
8,042 


127 
2,846 


3,151 


3,300 

6, 663 
93, 000 


11,400 
17,723 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OV    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM.  43 

Frincipal  shipments  by  river  from  Cincinnati,  1855  and  1905 — Continued. 


o  Iron  and  steel 


44  TRAPFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   EIVER   SYSTEM. 

The  commodity  predominant  in  Ohio  River  commerce,  in  fact  the 
only  commodity  of  importance  now  transported  on  the  Mississippi 
River  system,  is  bituminous  coaL  For  over  twenty-five  years  this 
has  far  surpassed  all  other  commodities  in  tons  carried.  For  the 
sixteen  years  1886  to  1902  the  total  amount  of  freight  carried 
througl/the  Louisville  and  Portland  Canal  was  about  81,000,000 
tons,  of  which  nearly  75  per  cent  was  coal. 

Transportation  of  this  commodity  began  ver}^  early  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  with  the  aid  of  the  flatboat  already  described.  But 
the  dangers  of  the  upper  Ohio  in  a  "rise"  and  the  difficulties  of  navi- 
gation in  low  water  made  the  floating  of  coal  flats  too  precarious  to 
be  profitable.  Ohio  River  coal  handling  assumed  importance  about 
1850,  when  steam  towing  or.  better,  propelling  was  permanently  intro- 
duced, and  the  business  was  extended  beyond  the  Ohio  River  itself 
as  far  as  New  Orleans.  This  traffic  on  the  Monongahela  has  steadily 
increased  because  of  the  extraordinary  cheapness  with  which  it  can 
be  handled,  and  it  alone  has  saved  river  commerce  in  this  section 
from  destruction.  While  the  size  of  craft  employed  and  the  efficiency 
of  propelling  steamboats  have  been  increased,  there  has  been  no 
fundamental  change  in  the  method  of  handling  the  traffic  during  the 
last  quarter  century.  There  are  three  typical  craft  employed,  which 
are,  in  the  order  of  size,  the  coal  boat,  the  barge,  and  the  flat  or  float. 
The  coal  boat,  drawing  10  feet  of  water,  has  a  capacity  of  over  1,000 
tons  or  25,000  bushels^  It  costs  about  $800,  and  was  formerly  com- 
monly sokl  with  its  cargo  at  destination.  The  barge,  with  a  little 
less  (h-aft,  has  about  half  the  capacity  of  the  boat,  but  is  better 
built,  costs  about  SI, 000,  and  is  returned  empty  for  reloading.  This 
is  used  more  commonly  in  the  trade  which  does  not  extend  beyond 
Cairo  or  St.  Louis.  The  float  or  flat  is  a  still  smaller  craft,  of  about 
200  tons  or  5,000  bushels  capacity,  drawing  about  4  feet,  and  costing 
$400.  This  fragile  craft  has  also  commonly  been  broken  up  at  the 
end  of  its  voyage.  These  three  kinds  of  floating  equipment,  together 
with  fuel  boats  and  the  steam  towboat,  constitute. the  fleet. 

The  method  of  handling  as  the  fleet  proceeds  tlownstream  is 
simply  that  of  a  ])rogre.ssive  accumulation  of  units  into  larger  aggre- 
gates, as  navigiition  grows  more  reliable.  The  oiigin  of  the  traflic 
is  on  the  Monongahela  River,  where  the  coal  is  now  loaded  mechanic- 
ally from  the  mines  into  the  barges.  However,  the  coal  has  always 
been  in  sufficiently  close  proximity  to  the  waterway  to  make  water 
handling  ])rofitable,  even  before  the  introduction  of  mechanical  aids. 
At  the  hegirming  of  the  coal  business,  flats  and  rafts  were  floated 
down  the  riv(>r  at  high  and  medium  stages  of  water.  The  river  was 
first  im|)foved  by  a  ])rivate  company,  incorporated  by  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania  in  1836,  whose  works  were  ac(|uire(l  by  the  United 
States  in  1897.  The  river  is  now  navigable  by  means  of  locks  to 
Faii'niont,  W.  Xn.,  131  miles  above  Pittsburg.  Coal  is  pro|)elled 
down  this  river  in  small  tows  to  Pittsburg  Harbor  where  the  boats 
and  baiges  are  moored  awaiting  a  favorable  stage  of  water,  when 
they  are  sent  in  large  aggregates  to  ])oints  below  on  the  Ohio  ami 
Mississippi.  Fleets  of  25  boats,  bai'ges,  and  flats  containing  350,000 
to  500, ()()()  bushels  of  coiil  are  now  handled  fioni  Pittsl)urg  to  Louis- 
vill<'.  Tliere  they  are  moored  above  the  falls  of  the  Ohio  at  rJell'er- 
soinille,    Ind.,    are    towed    in    sections    throu";h    the    Louisville    aiul 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI    RIVER   SYSTEM.  45 

Portlund  C-anul,  oi"  entire  over  tlie  l';i,lls  as  tlu'  sta<i;e  ol"  water  deter- 
mines, ami  are  reassembled  l)elo\v  the  falls  into  still  lar<z;er  fleets  for 
the  final  stretch  of  their  journey.  One  of  the  lar<;est  fleets  I'ccorded 
carried  from  below  the  falls  56, ()()()  tons,  or  1,400, ()()()  bushels  of  coal. 

The  rapid  increase  in  this  trallic  in  the  eighties  was  due,  so  far  as 
southern  demand  was  concerned,  partly  to  the  rapitl  ^^rowth  of  manu- 
factiu'inj^  at  New  Orleans  and  other  Louisiana  and  Mississi])|)i  points 
reached  by  the  river  and  its  tributaries,  aiul  partly  to  the  demand 
for  coal  in  the  T^ouisiana  sui:;ar  houses.  Nine-tenths  of  the  Louisiana 
sufjjar  j)lantations  were  then  on  the  bank  of  some  stream,  and  coal 
could  be  delivered  to  them  directly  by  water  in  these  shallow  bar«jes. 
This  coal  is  still  used  by  the  su<i;ar  and  rice  mills  of  J^ouisiana.  It  is 
also  in  demand  in  the  gas,  domestic,  and  steam  coal  trade  of  New 
Orleans,  by  coastwise  and  ocean  steamships,  and  by  railway  loco- 
motives. None  of  it  is  used  at  any  distance  from  the  river  bank; 
none  is  sent  for  sale  to  domestic  ports  beyond  New  Orleans.  Of  the 
total  annual  receipts  at  New  Orleans  of  about  1 ,()()(), 000  t(ms,  about 
500,000  tons  are  used  by  ocean  steamships,  and  about  400,000  tons 
are  unloaded  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river  lar<2;ely  for  railway  use. 

Coal  is  now  landed  to  some  extent  at  important  ])oints  along  the 
river  system,  such  as  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  Memphis,  Yicksburg, 
Natchez,  and  Baton  Rouge.  Moreover,  the  coal  barge  furnishes  a 
most  satisfactory  and  economical  method  of  provitling  the  river 
steamers  with  fuel.  The  old  picturesque  method  of  "wooding  up" 
disappeared  with  the  exhaustion  of  tlie  wood  supjily,  and  barges  of 
coal  are  npw  moored  to  the  river  banks  at  designated  points.  The.se 
the  steamers  pick  up,  unload  while  in  motion,  and  then  moor  again 
to  the  bank,  where  th(>v  are  afterwards  collected  by  the  towboats 
and  assembled  for  the  return  trip  to  Pittsburg.  With  the  exhaustion 
of  the  timber  supply  of  the  Allegheny  River,  and  the  necessity  of 
obtaining  lumber  from  the  Pacific  coast,  the  coal  barges  are  being 
returned  to  the  mines  in  larger  numbers,  and  less  of  them  are  being 
sold  with  the  cargo. 

The  perfecting  of  this  method  of  coal  transportation  has  kept 
always  in  mind  as  the  one  object  the  attainment  of  the  greatest  pos- 
sible economy  of  service.  This  has  been  accom|)lished  by  the  use  of 
propelling  boats  which  do  not  attempt  to  make  great  speed,  but 
which  have  the  power  to  guide  the  huge  unwieldy  fleet  of  barges 
safely  to  their  destination,  and  also  by  the  method  of  s])reading  out 
the  cargo  over  a  wide  area  by  means  of  craft  as  shallow  as  possible, 
in  order  to  minimize  low-water  difficulties.  As  a  result,  coal  is  car- 
ried from  Pittsburg  to  New  Orleans  at  a  little  less  than  half  of  1 
mill  per  ton-mile,  a  rate  which  is  quite  beyond  the  reach  of  railway 
competition."  The  develoj^nent  of  the  u])per  river  business  in  coal 
ma}^  be  shoAvn,  a])]iroximately,  by  the  following  table,  which  gives  for 
the  3"ears  1844  to  ISSO  the  number  of  bushels  of  coal  and  slack  shipjied 
from  the  Monongahela  according  to  the  books  of  the  Monongahela 
Navigation  Company,  and  from  1890  to  1907  the  number  of  bushels 
passed  through  the  locks  of  the  Monongahela  River,  as  shown  by 

official  reports. 

*_. 

o  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  same  corporation  owns  the  mine,  the  loading  and 
unloading  facilities,  the  boats  and  barges,  and  to  some  extent  llie  wharves,  this  rate 
is  a  mere  matter  of  bookkeeping,  and  too  niucli  reliance  should  not  be  placed  upon  it. 


46  TEATFIC    HISTOEY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   BIVEB   SYSTEM. 

Coal  and  slack  shipped  from  the  pools  of  the  Monongahela  slack  water,  1844-1885  A 

Bushels. 

1844 737, 150 

1850 12, 297,  967 

1855 22, 234,  009 

1860 37, 947,  732 

1865 39, 522,  792 

1870 57, 596,  400 

1875 63, 707,  500 

1880 84, 048,  350 

1885 82,  459,  050 

Movement  of  coal  through  Monongahela  River  locks,  1890-1907.  b 

1890 116, 302,  600 

1895 104, 589,  900 

1900 145, 446,  575 

1905 212, 233,  500 

1907 257, 086,  500 

It  is  unnecessary  to  follow  statistically  the  water  traffic  in  coal 
from  port  to  port  down  the  river,  but  the  following  summary  of  the 
business  of  1907  is  illuminating.  In  that  year  there  passed  through 
Lock  No.  3  on  the  Monongahela  Riyer,  which  is  approximately  the 
total  coal  traffic  at  its  origin,  8,957,712  short  tons.  There  was 
receiyed  in  the  Pittsburg  district  in  this  year  from  the  Monongahela 
locks  6,840,816  tons,  a  small  portion  of  this  being  mined  within 
the  pools  between  the  locks,  and  hence  not  included  in  the  first 
figure.  There  passed  Dayis  Island  Dam  on  the  way  down  the  riyer 
2,883,965  tons.  There  was  receiyed  at  Cincinnati  from  the  Mononga- 
hela Riyer  1,244,720  tons,  and  a  slightly  smaller  quantity  from  the 
Kanawha  and  other  riyer  sources.  Through  the  Lousiyille  and 
Portland  Canal  and  oyer  the  falls  of  the  Ohio  at  Louisyille,  there 
passed  1,154,991  tons  on  their  way  to  destinations  farther  south. 
The  receipts  by  riyer  of  coal  at  New  Orleans  are  estimated  at  about 
1,000,000  tons'per  year. 

While  the  coal  traffic  has  steadily  grown,  as  already  indicated,  the 
growth  during  the  last  ten  years  has  been  almost  wholly  in  the 
section  between  the  mines  and  Pittsburg  and  Cincinnati.  Below 
Cincinnati  there  has  been  no  marked  change  in  riyer  traffic  during 
this  decade.  Moreover,  it  is  not  to  be  assumed  that  this  product  is 
handled  exclusively  or  even  predominantly  by  water.  For  example, 
of  the  total  coal  shipped  into  and  tlu'ough  the  Pittsburg  district 
during  the  years  1900  to  1906,  the  railways  handled  an  average  of 
71  per  cent  and  the  waterways  29  per  cent.  For  the  Pittsburg 
district  alone,  however,  a  larger  proportion  has  always  been  received 
by  water.  In  1906  the  proportion  carried  by  water  to  Pittsburg 
was  57  per  cent,  while  to  the  territory  west  of  Pittsburg  it  was  only 
11  per  cent.  At  Cinciiniati,  wliere  the  I'cceipts  consist  almost  wholly 
of  bituminous  coal  from  the  Monongahela  and  Kanawiia  rivers,  the 
proportion  of  coal  recc^ived  by  river  fell  from  93  per  cent  in  1880  to 
60  })(!r  cent  in  1895  and  33  ])er  cent  in  190().  Of  the  total  shipments 
out  of  Cincinnati  in  1906  only  about  6  ])er  cent  went  by  river.  It  is 
impracticable  to  ship  coal  in  any  quantity  by  water  to  St.  Louis,  and 
only  a  small  amount,  used  for  gas-making  purposes,  is  brought  in  from 
Pittsburg  by  river. 

«  Report  on  Internal  Commerce  of  the  United  States,  1887. 
b  Monthly  Summary  of  Commerce  and  Finance. 


^ 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM.  47 

Passinfj  from  coal  to  other  iiiipDrtaiit  sources  of  traffic,  a  Jjiief  suiu- 
niary  of  the  rej)ort  of  tlie  Coinniissioiier  of  ('or|)oraf  ions  on  Transpor- 
tation by  Water  in  the  United  States  will  suffice  to  present  the  existing 
situation.  Of  the  tiaffic  at)ove  l^ittsl)ur<:,  that  on  the  Allej^heny  is 
reduced  to  l)ulk  freij^ht,  as  railways  parallel  the  river  and  handle 
<j;eneral  niei-chandise.  This  frei<]:ht  consists  principally  of  lumber,  a 
raj)idly  decreasin":  (luantity,  rafted  downstream,  coal  carried  a  short 
distance  upstream  for  the  use  of  steel  mills,  and  gravel,  sand,  and 
stone  dredged  along  the  river  and  carried  to  f)oints  in  Pittsburg 
Harbor.  The  total  traffic  amounted  to  about  2, 500, ()()()  tons  in  1906. 
The  ^lonongahela  is  likewise  paralleled  by  railway  lines,  which  take 
care  of  the  merchandise  business.  Of  the  traffic  outside  of  coal,  the 
only  ])roducts  of  imj)ortance  are  sand  and  gravel,  of  which  the  pre- 
<l()minant  movement  is  upstream.  Coal  constituted  <S4  ])er  cent  of 
the  traffic  in  1007  and  sand  and  gravel  nearly  15  per  cent.  Of  the 
commerce  of  Pittsburg  Harbor  in  1907,  75  oer  cent  consisted  of  coal 
and  22  per  cent  of  sand  and  gravel.  Small  slii])ments  of  iron  and 
steel  products  still  take  place.  Of  the  total  commerce  uj)  and  down 
stream  at  Davis  Ishuul  Dam  below  Pittsburg  in  1907,  SO  per  cent  was 
coal.  Sand  was  next  in  order,  with  17  |)er  cent  of  the  total  tonnage. 
At  Wheeling  the  total  receipts  and  shipnu^nts  by  river  for  the  year 
1906  amounted  to  only  161,550  tons,  mostly  general  merchandise. 
The  Muskingum  River  has  a  small  miscellaneous  traffic  of  fittle 
im])ortance.  Down  the  Little  Kanawha  are  floated  saw  fogs  and  rail- 
road ties,  which  nearly  absorb  the  entire  tonnage.  The  total  traffic 
of  this  river  does  not  reach  100,000  tons  annually.  Of  the  traffic  of 
the  Kanawha,  nearly  90  per  cent  in  1906  consisted  of  coal  shipped 
almost  wholly  to  (-incinnati.  Timber  and  railroad  ties  are  the  otlier 
products  of  importance.  The  Big  Sandy  Kiver  had  a  traffic  in  1906 
of  205,452  tons,  of  which  94  per  cent  consisted  of  timber  and  ties. 
The  Census  Report  on  Transportation  by  Water  in  1906  shows  river 
receipts  at  Cincinnati  of  2,131,(S47  tons  and  shipments  of  231,368 
tons.  Some  traffic  is  found  on  the  Kentucky  Kiver,  consisting 
principally  of  lumber  and  loose  logs,  and  to  some  extent  of  coal,  but 
the  total  amount  is  not  large.  At  Louisville,  according  to  the 
Census  Report  on  Transportation  by  Water  in  1906,  the  river  receipts 
were  1,116,955  tons  and  the  shipments  86,772  tons.  Coal  constituted 
more  than  half  of  the  receipts,  stone  and  sand  ])eing  important  items. 

Through  the  I^ouisville  and  Portland  Canal  and  by  way  of  the  open 
river  in  good  stages  of  water  the  river  traffic  moves  southwartl.  Of 
the  total  tonnage  passing  Louisville  by  these  two  avenues  in  1907, 
88  per  cent  was  coal.  The  other  items  of  sullicient  importance  to  be 
separately  mentioned  were  iron  ore,  manufactured  iron,  and  lumber. 
At  Evansville,  according  to  the  Census  Report  on  Transportation  by 
Water  in  1906,  the  river  receipts,  consisting  principally  of  coal  and 
lumber,  amounted  to  358,371  tons  and  the  shipments  to  57,762  tons. 
The  Green  and  Barren  rivers  have  a  small  tonnage,  com])osed  largely 
of  timber  and  ties  and  some  coal.  The  Cumi)erland  Kiver,  although 
navigable  for  500  miles,  has  a  total  tonnage  not  to  exceed  600,000 
tons,  consisting  largely  of  forest  prtxlucts,  especially  railroad  ties. 
The  Tennessee,  navigable  in  the  main  river  for  1,300  miles,  hud  a 
tonnage  in  1906  of  1,578,760  tons,  consisting  principally  of  iron  ore 
and  sand  transported  locally. 


48  TRAFFIC    HISTOEY    OF    MISSISSIPPI    EIVER    SYSTEM. 

The  census  figures  show  a  total  traffic  on  the  Ohio  system  of 
15,797,000  tons  in  1889  and  of  15,227,000  tons  in  1906.  The  decHne 
in  miscellaneous  traffic  and  in  lumber  is  offset  by  the  increase  in  coal 
movement,  so  that  according  to  the  report  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Corporations  on  Transportation  by  Water  in  the  United  States  the 
volume  of  traffic,  with  lumber,  sand,  and  coal  included,  seems  to  have 
increased  to  some  extent.  But  the  striking  characteristic  of  the  com- 
merce of  this  valley  is  the  comparative  lack  of  through  business  to 
the  lower  Mississippi  which  characterized  it  during  the  first  seventy 
years  of  the  nineteenth  centur3^  With  the  exception  of  coal  and  to 
a  slight  extent  lumber,  commerce  is  now  confined  to  short-distance 
movements  between  local  points.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  along  the 
Oliio  River  between  Pittsburg  and  Cairo  there  are  forty  railway  cross- 
ings or  terminals,  this  local  trafhc  reaches  back  but  a  few  miles  from 
the  river  bank.  Traffic  requiring  transfer  and  a  rail  haul  of  any  con- 
siderable distance  no  longer  makes  any  use  of  the  river,  but  is  handled 
the  entire  distance  by  rail. 

III. 

UPPER    MISSISSIPPI    COMMERCE. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  previous  to  the  civil  war  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi was  the  sole  highway  into  the  Northwest  and  that  freight  and 
passenger  tralHc  by  water  developed  extensively.  After  railways 
reached  the  river  in  1854  and  1855,  close  relations  were  established 
between  rail  and  river,  and  pioneers  and  their  supplies  traveled  by 
this  avenue  to  their  destination.  But  after  the  war  the  upper  river 
was  soon  paralleled  by  railways,  and  lines  were  also  extended  north- 
westward from  Chicago  and  Milwaukee  direct  to  Minnesota  and  Wis- 
consin river  points.  This  promptly  put  an  end  to  the  steamboat 
passenger  business  and  began  the  transformation  of  the  freight 
trafhc  into  a  purely  local  trade. 

Moreover,  these  railway  lines  tapping  the  river  at  so  many  points 
served  as  efhcient  distributing  agencies  for  traffic  brought  down  the 
river  by  steamboats,  and  this  had  its  influence  toward  the  destruc- 
tion of  through  river  trade.  For  example,  of  the  southbound  river 
tonnage  which  passed  the  bridge  at  ])ubu(iue  in  1878  more  than  half 
was  stopped  at  Fulton  and  Rock  Island  and  transferred  to  railways 
for  shipment  to  Chicago." 

The  building  ol"  railways  west  of  the  river  already  described  had 
brouglit  tliat  vast  territory  almost  completely  into  sid)jection  to  rail 
transportation.  By  1879  seven-eighths  of  the  surplus  pro(Uicts  of 
the  trans-Mississippi  States  north  of  vVrkansas  crossetl  the  Missis- 
sippi River  on  railways  at  St.  Louis  or  between  that  city  and  St. 
Paul,  and  was  transported  East  to  local  or  foreign  markets.  Only 
()08,555  tons  were  moved  south  by  river  in  1878,  as  compared  with 
4,58)^,844  tons  moved  east  by  rail  by  way  of  St.  Louis  and  points 
north,  from  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi.  During  1878  the 
eastward  shipments  from  St.  Louis  by  rail  excee(kMl  the  southern 
shipments  from  that  city  by  river.'* 


"Report  on  Internal  Commerce  of  the  United  Slates,  1879. 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY  OF    MISSISSIPPI    RIVER   SYSTEM.  49 

This  ti'iuloncy  to  divei't  ti-aflic  from  the  wnleiw  ay  was  accent  iiattHl 
by  the  K)nji;  suspension  of  upper  Mississippi  naviii:ation  (hniii^  the 
winter  months,  ))y  the  vai'iations  of  the  statue  of  water,  and  hv  tFie 
hick  of  facihties  for  ach^quate  meehanieal  and  eomniercial  handhnj^  of 
])ro(hu-ts  at  river  points.  It  was  not  surj)risinn;  that  seUers  of  western 
pi'ochiee  shouhl  prefer  to  send  tlieir  shij)nients  tt)  (.Miie.a«j:o  rather  than 
to  some  river  town  whieh  had  no  wharves  or  docks,  no  warehouses, 
no  unloachnp;  machinery,  and  no  crecht  ov  bankinjij  facilities  beyond 
what  was  necessary  to  meet  a  nai'row  Io(!al  (h'niand.  Not  only  in 
lloatin<2;  equij)ment  on  the  rivers,  but  in  all  mechanical  aids  and  in  all 
the  various  devices  of  orijani/.ation  that  a.ssist  commercial  exchange, 
tlie  I'iver  sA'stem  was  totallv  lackin*;.  In  ISSO  there  were  1.3  rail- 
way l)ri(jo;os  l)etween  St.  ]'aul  and  St.  Louis,  and  not  a  city  with  com- 
mercial power  sufficient  to  divert  tiallic  from  its  eastward  course. 
Products  once  loaded  in  trains  west  of  the  Missi.ssippi  j)roceeded 
direct  to  Chicago  and  other  large  connnercial  centers,  and  water  traffic 
declined. 

The  character  of  the  traffic  on  the  Missi.ssippi  and  its  tributaries 
during  the  ten  years  after  the  close  of  the  war  changed  materially. 
As  already  noted,  upper  Mississippi  l^iver  traffic,  except  hunber,  to  be 
later  discussetl,  had  been  largely  diverted  from  its  southwai'd  course. 
On  the  lower  Mississippi  what  remained  to  the  stciunboats  consisted 
to  a  large  degree  of  the  lower  classes  of  freight  cai'ried  locally  from 
point  to  point  along  the  river.  This  trafhc  the  railways  luul  not 
cared  to  struggle  for,  but  higher  classes  of  freight  from  liver  towns, 
and  practically  all  freight  from  the  important  interior  centers  in 
States  south  of  Missouri  and  the  Ohio  River,  were  now  moved  their 
entire  tlistance  by  rail. 

It  would  hardly  be  worth  while  to  trace  in  detail  the  decline  in 
general-merchandise  traffic,  which  began  about  1<S70.  Railway  lines 
were  extended  on  both  banks  of  the  river  and  at  a  tlistance  l)ack  from 
the  water,  and  were  in  a  ]Kisition  to  control  all  the  merchandise  traffic 
which  they  cared  to  hamlle.  On  the  upper  Mississippi,  because  of  the 
uncertainty  and  brevity  of  the  navigation  season,  water  carriage  has 
not  to  any  great  degree  affected  rail  charges.  Farther  south,  how- 
ever, the  railways  have  made  special  rates  to  divert  river  business. 

General-merchandise  traffic  on  the  upper  river  is  now  wholly  con- 
fined to  the  trading  of  small  steamers  between  local  j)oints,  exce|)t  for 
such  traffic  as  is  handled  by  one  ])assenger  line  between  St.  I^ouis  and 
St.  Paul,  which  is  operated  largely  for  excursion  pur])oses.  No  one 
of  the  formerly  important  river  towns,  such  as  Burlington,  Quincy. 
Alton,  Davenport,  Rock  Island.  Clinton,  Dubu(jue,  Lacros.se,  and 
Winona,  has  any  considerable  river  traffic  to-day.  As  alreaily  stated, 
grain  was  carried  before  the  war  during  the  prosperous  days  of  steam- 
boating  to  the  maximum  capacity  of  the  boats.  This  continued  in 
diminishing  quantities  into  the  decade  1880-1890,  some  of  it  being 
transshij)j)ed  by  the  barge  line  from  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans.  But 
this  has  now  ceased  altogethei'.  Wheat  raised  near  enough  to  the 
river  t(^  make  water  handling  possible  and  ])rofitable  is  now  consumed 
almost  whollv  by  local  mills.  Conditions  of  navigation  have  discour- 
aged flour  ship]H'rs  and  that  trade  is  at  an  end.  l^aige  tra<h'  in  mer- 
chandise freight  does  not  exist  on  the  uj)per  Mississip|)i.  According 
to  the  CensUs  Rejiort  on  Transportation  by  Water  in  1906,  the  total 

19830—09 4 


50 


TEATFIC    HISTORY   OF   MISSISSIPPI   EIVER  SYSTEM. 


receipts  and  shipments  of  the  upper  Mississippi,  exclusive  of  logs  and 
rafts,  amounted  to  1,193,010  tons,  of  which  728,000  tons  were  stone 
and  sand. 

The  growth  of  railway  traffic  in  this  section  coincident  with  the 
decline  of  river  traffic  is  shown  hj  a  comparison  of  business  done  in 
1870  and  1880  by  railways  serving  the  Mississippi  Valley,  some  of 
them  paralleling  the  river,  others  crossing  it. 

Table  shorving  tons  of  freight  carried  and  tons  of  freight  carried  1  mile  by  certain  western 

railways,  1870  and  1880. 


Name  of  railway. 


Tons  of  freight  carried. 


1870. 


Chioaeoand  Alton 1,261,432 

Chicasfo,  Burlington  and  Quincv 1,052,754 

Chi  a'o.  Milwaukee  and  fet.  Paul 1.522.753 

Chifa?o  and  N'orthwestem I  2,222,978 

Chi -aijo  and  Rock  Island 85(;,  f  ( 8 

Illinois  Central I  1,  ( 23, 994 

Hannibal  anl  S\  Joseph '  411.831 

Ohio  and  Mississippi I  .  528,702 


1880. 


3,071,788 
6,  fi39. 180 
3,210.353 
5.574,(35 
2, 9'  (>.  763 
2,703,582 
71(i,  739 
0  1,284.254 


Tons  of  freight  carried  1 
mile. 


1870. 


145,000,000 
147,409.207 
181,428,573 
3(:4.747,240 
130,(83.871 
2(5.409.400 
70,858,854 


1880. 


484, 474, 730 
1,(124.4(1, 793 
504,870,154 
8(  5, 909, 542 
(:-8C',458,954 
381,288.400 
120,065,740 


o  For  the  year  1876. 

The  traffic  which  during  the  most  of  this  period  used  the  upper 
river  to  the  exclusion  of  the  railway  was  that  of  logs  and  lumber  of 
various  kinds,  which  were  floated  loosely  in  the  upper  tributaries 
and  then  converted  into  rafts  and  propelled  downstream  to  various 
points  between  St.  Paul  and  St.  Louis.  ^'.lost  of  this  traffic  origi- 
nated on  the  Wisconsin  rivers,  the  St.  Croix  and  Chippewa  })rinci- 
pally.  Lumbering  was  carried  on  during  the  winter  months,  wlien 
snow  made  transportation  for  short  distances  to  the  rivers  easy.  In 
the  spring,  with  the  break-up  of  the  ice,  the  logs  were  floated  down 
these  streams,  and  when  they  reached  the  navigable  river,  where 
guidance  through  the  bridges  was  necessary,  tlie}^  were  taken  in 
charge  by  towboats.  Every  town  of  any  size  from  St.  Paul  to  St. 
Ijouis  was  either  a  lumber  manufacturing  and  distributing  point  for 
the  logs  delivered  to  them  or  a  mere  distributing  cenler  for  the  rafts 
of  latlis,  shingles,  and  various  forms  of  manufactured  lumber  brought 
down  from  the  mills  on  the  upper  river  and  tributaries.  As  early 
as  1876  there  were  73  mills  in  operation  on  the  main  river  between 
St.  Paul  and  St.  Louis."  Supplies  of  lumber  were  shipped  from  these 
points  by  rail  from  10  to  100  miles  east  of  the  river,  and  from  500  to 
1.000  miles  west. 

T^ut  even  this  source  of  traffic  has  been  slowly  slipping  away. 
TMiereas  in  1876  there  were  100  raft  boats  engaged  in  towing  logs  and 
lumber  on  Ihe  upper  }  ississipjii.  in  1006  there  were  only  20.  Sta- 
tistics of  the  amoiint'of  Nvhite  |)ine  now  floated  on  the  river  are  not 
available,  l)ut  the  estimated  number  of  feet  of  logs,  lumber,  and 
shingles  transported  is  here  given  for  a  series  of  years  up  to  1891. 
The  wide  variations  in  di  '(M'ent  years  are  due  to  conditions  of  naviga- 
tion. 


a  Report  on  Internal  lommerte  of  the  United  States,  1887 . 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM.  51 

Number  of  feet  ofvhite  pinejldhled  on  the  upper  Mississippi  River  (estimated): 

Feet  b.  m. 

1875 1,  0(iO,  000,  000 

1876 • ] ,  350,  000,  000 

1878 1,1 5:^,  000,  000 

1880 2,  000,  (JOO,  000 

1886 1,  [iU,,  000,  000 

1891 1 ,  240,  000,  000 

The  decline  in  this  form  of  IrairK'  is  duo  in  ])art  to  tiie  coiiditions 
of  navif^ation.  Actual  low  water,  the  uncertainty  of  an  ade^juate 
stage  of  water,  and  the  delays  ckie  to  log  jams  have  cHverted  much 
trallic  to  the  railways.  Tt  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  the  short 
navigation  season  of  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota  has  had  any  great 
influence,  for  the  winter  season  has  been  admirably  adapted  for  the 
primary  lumbering  operation.  The  most  important  cause  of  decline 
has  been  the  exhaustion  of  the  lumber  supply  along  the  river  courses, 
making  it  more  feasible  either  to  ship  logs  by  rail  to  the  mills  or  to 
move  the  mills  into  the  forests  and  ship  out  by  rail  the  manufactured 
lumber.  Capital  for  lumber  manufacturing  has  for  a  decade  been 
leaving  the  Alississippi  Valley  and  engaging  in  southern  and  Pacific 
coast  operations. 

The  following  table  j)resents  the  traffic  through  the  government 
canal  around  the  Des  Moines  and  Keokuk  Rapids  from  its  opening 
in  1877  down  to  the  present  time.  While  different  kinds  of  trallic 
vary  in  amount  from  3^ear  to  year  in  accordance  with  conditions 
affecting  the  particular  industr}^,  and  while  the  canal  statistics  do 
not  show  the  entire  trallic  except  in  seasons  when  the  water  was  too 
low  for  passage  through  the  rapids,  nevertheless  a  survey  of  the 
facts  for  the  entire  period  shows  strikingly  the  decline  in  the  com- 
merce of  this  section  of  the  river. 

Traffic  through  the  Des  Moines  Rapids  Canal  for  a  series  of  years  from  its  opening  in  1877. 
[Compiled  from  reports  of  United  States  engineers.) 


Year  ending  June  30— 

Steam- 
boats. 

Barges. 

Passengers. 

General 
merchan- 
dise. 

Grain. 

1878 

070 
802 
9(i7 
840 
7(0 

1,107 
913 
889 
784 
990 
595 

1.022 
924 

548 
454 
651 
270 
444 
705 
245 
l(i9 
218 
318 
235 
288 
477 

Tons. 
53,346 
(;4,  ( 58 
78, 989 
44,9  2 
29,043 
43,359 
54,215 
54, 1-20 
50,001 
52.815 
.33,1(0 
.iO.018 
71.453 
43.182 
22.035 
25.105 
14.451 
14.098 
13.849 

BvLsheh, 
737,415 

1879 

1880 

1881 

1882 

1883 

1884 

1885 

188(i 

1887 

1888 

1889 

1890 

5.008 
13,231 
10.003 

8,588 

9  192 
13.057 
13.005 
22,221 
20.797 

8.330 
22.SS0 
14.529 
14.752 
14.141 
27.488 
33.90(i 
38,005 
48.825 

2.192,(42 
2,197,4(9 
1,154.092 
781.817 
729. 174 
470.580 
77t..432 
4(5.(81 
3(i(i.432 
143.037 
;J8 1.559 
397.788 

1894 

(il9              312 
ma              340 
882              381 
928              285 
810              (i44 
999               144 

83.150 

1895 

55.729 

1900 

(i.  902 

1905 

3.700 

IX)6 

24.  (-35 

1907 

12.:;71 

52 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER    SYSTEM. 


Traffic  through  the  Des  Moines  Rapids  Canal  for  a  series  of  years  from  its  opening  in 

.Z  577— Continued. 


Year  ending  Jtine  30— 

Logs. 

Lumber. 

Laths. 

Shingles. 

1878 

"      FcH 

Ffelb.  m. 

25.000,000 

33.347,612 

21.832.478 

52,256.235 

17,150.011 

13.093,325 

57,018.151 

43.119.797 

22.769.823 

178,754,876 

16(),  827, 752 

118,  .',08, 045 

140, 078.  .3-29 

117,c60.783 

155,625,800 

78.8.57,6.57 

17,190.000 

3.622.000 

7,358,000 

'Number. 

4,000.000 

8,721.796 
27,8(>3.640 
11.6,57,6.55 

3,112.825 
11.. 5.58,000 
15,924.645 
13.473.205 

4,302,800 
19.961.781 
S3.(;42.4i0 
50.221,099 
44.316.167 
42.112.415 
5.5.0(H,938 
18,  .502. 200 

8.262.000 
637.000 

4.232.000 

Number. 
3.700,080 

1879 

8.056,000 

13,11.0,900 

11,013,410 

4,47.5.000 

1.040,000 

9.399.764 

2.779.670 

3. 195. SCO 

24.837.000 

34.505.000 

26.3.33.320 

26.089,300 

11,749  600 

1880 

30, 561 .  150 

ISSl   . .    .-. 

15.091,000 

1882 i 

4, 8S5. 250 

1883     

4,435.000 

1884 

25, 182. 250 

1885- 

25. 018, 750 

1886 

8.253,000 

1887                   ...                                    .... 

90. 450, 922 

1888 

1889 

49.848.840 
37.413,810 

1890 

1894 

1895        .                  .       .                               

29.545.910 
32.142,5.50 

4.475,000 
425.000 

6. 700, 000 

55. 670, 204 

1900 

24.  .564, 771 

1905 

1903 

1907 

4.6,55.000 

400,000 

1.300.000 

Of  the  traffic  on  the  lower  poitioii  of  the  upper  river  that  alone 
requires  special  mention  which  is  handled  on  the  Illinois  River,  mostly 
between  St.  Louis  and  Peoria.  The  total  traffic  on  this  river  was 
given  by  the  census  in  1906  as  207,828  tons,  of  which  the  largest  sin- 
gle item  was  grain.  Of  the  two  canals  of  this  section  which  feed  into 
the  Mississippi  the  Hennepin  Canal,  which  enters  the  river  by  way  of 
the  Rock  River  near  Rock  Island,  was  opened  to  navigation  late  in 
1907  and  handled  in  that  year  3,742  tons  of  freight  and  2,862  pas- 
sengers. The  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  from  Chicago  to  La  Salle 
is  now  partly  replaced  by  the  Chicago  Drainage  Canal,  but  the  re- 
maining portions  of  the  earlier  waterway  control  its  depth  and  its 
commerce.  Traffic  on  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  which  in  1889 
amounted  to  917,000  tons,  was  only  6.470  tons  in  1906. 

IV. 

.ST.    LOUIS. 


St.  Louis,  constituting  one  terminus  of  most  of  the  steamboat  lines, 
has  shared  the  fate  of  these  lines  in  its  river  business.  To  make  this 
decline  clear,  it  is  only  necessary  to  present  from  the  records  of  the 
St.  Louis  Merchants'  Exchange  the  following  statistics,  showing  at 
intervals  the  receipts  and  shipments  of  St.  Louis  by  the  different 
rivers  and  the  total  receipts  by  rail.  It  gives,  moreover,  a  striking 
picture  of  the  decline  of  Mississippi  River  commerce  as  a  whole. 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI    KIVER   SYSTEM. 


53 


Shipments  aiul  receipts  of  freight,  in  tons,  at  St.  Louis,  hi/  rait  and  river,  for  specified 

i/ears,  1871- 1906. '^ 

(Compilpd  from  Si.  Louis  Merchants'  ICxchariRe  reports.] 
SHIPMENTS. 


Ohio. 


112,652 

12'J,025 
135.:<00 

i7.i;«) 


Year. 

Upper 
Mtssissippj. 

Lower 
MIssi.sslppl. 

1871 

78,907 
90,225 
55,200 
48,295 
-'2.&J7 
30, 780 
30,075 
25,730 
30, 000 

477,970 
307  ''31 

1875 

1880 

1885 

1890 

1895 

Ml   1.1') 

1900 

1905 

1900 

3,1,  JIM 
34.!H)5 

KKCEIPTS. 


1871. 
1876. 
1880. 
1885. 
1890. 
1895. 
1900. 
1905. 
1900. 


230, 887 
198, 100 
220.095 
117,445 
128.900 
78, 170 
50,070 
31,190 
31.140 


313,211 
128,020 
223,925 
110,950 
222, 075 
239,090 
274,445 
107,520 
100,070 


lois. 

Missouri. 

10.9311 

44,438 

18,470 

25,100 

9,935 

10.415 

805 

10,330 

3,020 

10.035 

7,040 

5,505 

5,020 

1,225 

0,225 

4,705 

7,835 

3,505 

140,  (JOO 
153.995 
1,55,  (i05 
84,830 
22, 770 
:«),000 
20,905 
8,725 
14,550 


72. 579 
30,  KiO 
59,025 
10,875 
21.350 
3,270 
2, 725 
3,580 
2,485 


101,073 
I40,S05 
.'14,195 
i;(3,.1't.1 
10.'.  .100 
35.440 
2.700 
125. 755 
100,120 


SHIPMENTS. 


Year. 


Cumberland    ^.^^  White, 
,,1  .Arkansas, 

Tennes.see.        ^^^^^^^^^ 


Total  t).v 
river. 


Total  1>\ 
rail    ■ 


•  Iraiid  total. 


I 

1871 ;  2,534 

1875 1  1, 560 

1880 1,315 

1885 1  9.955 

1890 15. 075 

1895 17, 535 

1900 , . . .  15, 275 

1905 1  8,020 

1900 6,880 


42,995 
1,480 
0,100 
4.750 
fi,  180 
1.340 


770, 498 
ta9.095 
1.037.525 
534, 175 
(K)  1.802 
303,35.1 
245.  .180 


959. 882 
1.301,450  i 
2,75.1.tiS0 
3.537,133 
5.270,850 
5.  .349, 327 
9,180.309  ' 


.SO.  .175         15. -22.1. 973 
89.185         17,672,006 


1.730.380 
1.940,545 
3.793,205 
4,071,308 
5.872,712 
5,052,tB2 
9,425,889 
15,300.548 
17,761,191 


RECEIPTS. 


1871 
1875 
1880 
1885 
1890, 
1895 
1900 
1905 
1906. 


875 
345 
015  ,. 
370    . 
135  I 
575 
825 
870 
935 


4,170 
100 


132,940 

98. 085 

73.340 

1.210 

1.770 


.S.S4,401 
•  «(«.  525 
S93.8tiO 
479.005 

rm.{.  7:«i 
.vw.s;«> 

.112.01(1 
.'VI.S.1() 
327.070 


2.298,321 
3.  232, 770 
ti.  090,  524 
O.7(>4.108 
9.%9.291 
10,489.344 
15.  .375  441 
23. 915.0^0 
27.292,017 


3,  182,  722 
3.89ti..'95 
<•>,  990. 384 
7, 243, 233 
10.033.021 
10,9J8.174 
15  887.451 
24,-05.540 
27,620,287 


o  These  ntrnres  exclude  lutnher.  lops,  and  shinele<;  handled  in  r\\U». 

St.  Jjouis  suffered  seriously  iu  her  upper-river  eoimuerce  from  the 
diversion  eastward  by  the  railways  of  tralfie  from  the  varit)us  river 
points.  As  early  as  1S7.5,  00  per  cent  of  the  lumher  jiroduct  floated 
on  the  upper  Missi.ssippi  was  diverted  before  it  reachc(I  St.  Louis,  antl 
in  1874  this  pro})ortion  reached  94  per  cent.  In  1S71  the  receipts  at 
St.  Louis  from  the  upper  Mississijipi  were  three  times  the  shipments, 
but  in   1906  they  were  about  equal   in  nmoimt   and  insij:jnificant   in 


54  TRAFFIC    HISTOEY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   EIVER   SYSTEM. 

quantity.  The  loss  in  river  receipts  of  lumber  from  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi has  been  partly  compensated  for  by  the  receipts  of  southern 
pine  brought  in  barges  from  the  Tennessee  and  the  lower  Mississippi, 
but  the  amount  handled  by  rail  is  now  far  in  excess  of  that  by  water. 
Shipments  of  lumber  to  interior  points  of  consumption  are  now 
almost  entirely  by  rail. 

In  contrast  to  business  by  way  of  the  upper  Mississippi,  the  ship- 
ments to  the  lower  Mississippi  until  1895  exceeded  the  receipts. 
This  is  largely  due  to  development  of  the  barge  lines  to  New 
Orleans,  which  will  be  later  described.  This  barge  traffic,  which  was 
largely  in  bulk  grain,  ceased  in  1903.  River  grain  receipts  are  now 
entirely  in  sacks,  handled  by  packet  steamboats  from  points  up  and 
down  the  Mississippi,  including  also  the  Illinois  and  the  Missouri 
rivers.  The  total  receipts  by  river  in  1906  of  wheat,  corn,  oats,  barley, 
and  rye  were  only  866,199  bushels.  Almost  no  grain  is  now  shipped 
from  St.  Louis  bj^  water.  Of  cotton  receipts,  less  than  1  per  cent  iri 
1906  came  by  water.  Commerce  by  way  of  the  Illinois,  Missouri, 
Cumberland,  and  Tennessee  has  declined  to  but  a  fraction  of  its 
former  size,  and  that  of  the  Red,  White,  Arkansas,  and  Ouachita 
rivers  has  disappeared  altogether.  The  total  receipts  and  shipments 
at  St.  Louis  for  1906  of  the  first  four  rivers  mentioned  did  not  amount 
to  50,000  tons. 

Shipments  to  the  Ohio  River  ceased  before  1890,  but  receipts  from 
there  still  continue,  amounting  in  1906  to  half  the  total  river  receipts. 
This  was  entirely  coal  from  the  Monongahela  River.  River  com- 
merce at  St.  Louis  which  in  1871  constituted  34  per  cent  of  the  total 
rail  and  river  tonnage,  aggregated  in  1906  only  nine-tenths  of  1  per 
cent  of  the  total  traffic. 

V. 

MISSOURI    RIVER    COMMERCE. 

Missouri  River  commerce  reached  its  height  i^revious  to  the  civil 
war  and  much  of  the  equipment  was  destroyed  during  that  struggle. 
The  discovery  of  gold  in  Montana  in  1862  furnished  a  slight  incentive 
to  waterway  travel,  as  the  Missouri  was  the  only  possible  means  of 
reaching  the  gold  fields.  Such  passenger  traffic  as  was  developed 
after  the  war  consisted  of  gold  seekers,  pioneers,  Indians,  and  United 
States  troops.  Some  attempt  w'as  made  to  handle  through  freight 
trafiic  between  St.  Louis  and  the  head  of  navigation  at  Fort  Benton, 
2,300  miles  away.  In  1867,  for  example,  71  steamers  left  St.  Louis 
for  Fort  Benton  and  the  upper  Missouri,  averaging  260  tons  each 
and  carrying  a  total  of  16,655  tons.  The  average  time  consumed 
in  the  jouiiiey  was  about  two  weeks." 

Hie  river  seems  very  early  to  have  been  divided  for  navigation 
purposes  into  three  stretches — that  from  its  mouth  to  Kansas  City 
or  Omaha;  that  from  Sioux  (^ity,  Iowa,  to  Bisuuirck,  N.  Dak.;  and 
that  from  Bismarck  to  Fort  Benton,  Mont.,  or,  in  low  water,  to  the 
moutli  of  the  Yellowstone.  The  boats  which  could  reach  these 
up])er  waters  were  of  small  capacity.  The  traffic  never  developed 
significant  proportions  and  the  details  are  hardly  worth  reproduction. 

«Ex.  Doc,  'lOth  Cons.,  3d  sess.,  vol.  2. 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSII'IM    lUVER   SYSTEM.  55 

It  is  sufTicient  to  say  that  tlie  clownslivaiii  tradic  in  tiic  most  prosper- 
ous times,  and  in  the  best  stau;<'s  of  water,  consisted  principally  of 
ores  and  hulHon,  wool,  hides,  and  skins,  and  the  u|)streain  traliiC  of 
supplies  for  the  pioneers  and  militaiy  ^'arrisons.  In  ISSl  there 
were  five  lines  ol  steamboats  which  made  tlieir  heatlquarters  at 
Bismarck,  and  21  ])oats  plied  between  that  town  and  |)oints  on  the 
Missouri,  makinj;  in  the  season  loO  to  175  trips.  'Ihese  boats  carried 
into  Montana  13,780  tons  of  ])rivate  frei<rht  and  3.()()0  tons  of  j^'overn- 
ment  frei<rht,  besides  1,300  ])assen</ers,  2,400  Indians,  l.SOO  head  of 
horses  and  cattle,  and  GOO  head  of  sheep.  '1  he  ex|)orts  fiom  the 
upper  river  so  far  as  ascertained  includcil  2;>,000  bu'lalo  hides,  180 
tons  of  wool,  253,7")0  tons  of  hides,  and  furs  and  wolf  skins." 

But  the  invasion  of  this  tenitory  by  the  niilways  practicallv  put 
an  end  to  what  httle  commerce  the  river  interests  had  developed. 
Railway  rivalry  dates  from  the  close  of  the  war,  and  soon  after  1870, 
the  Missouri  Kiver  alons;  its  entire  lenp:th  was  subject  to  the  severest 
railway  comjietition  \\hich  any  waterway  in  the  countiy  experi- 
enced. In  1906,  above  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  only  10  boats  were  eniiaj^ed 
in  freight  and,  passenp^er  trafl'.c,  the  fieijrht  cariied  including  9,040 
tons  of  grain,  8,250  tons  of  live  stock,  5,507  tons  of  hunber  and  wood, 
11,780  tons  of  sand  and  building  mateiial,  nnd  8,850  tons  of  general 
merchandise.  A  line  of  boats  handling  grain  ami  general  nieichan- 
dise  also  operated  from  Bismarck  to  points  on  the  Yellowstone  Kiver. 
This  part  of  the  river  is  niainl}'  used  to-tlay  by  gasoline  barges  car- 
rying goods  to  and  from  railw  ay  crossings.  From  Sioux  City  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Missouri  the  princi{)al  traffic  was  sand  and  stone,  with 
a  small  movement  of  lumber,  grain,  and  general  merchandise.  In 
1906  the  total  tonnage  luuulled  on  the  lowei"  Missouii  was  onl}' 
573,348  tons. 

The  small  ]\art  played  by  the  Missouri  Kiver  in  internal-waterway 
commerce  is  due  not  alone  to  the  intense  and  successful  railway  com- 
petition which  has  j^revailetl  throughout  its  drainage  area.  It  is 
due  in  part  to  the  tortuous,  treacherous,  and  fre(|uently  obstructed 
channel,  upon  which  the  expentlituies  of  the  Government,  amounting 
up  to  June  30,  1907,  to  §11,191,000,  have  had  as  yet  httle,  if  any, 
effect  in  the  improvement  of  navigation.  Capital,  even  if  not  fearful 
of  railway  competition,  has  little  desire  to  engage  with  an  unruly 
stream  in  a  struggle  of  which  the  issue  is  so  doubtful. 

VI. 

LOWER    MISSISSIPPI    (O.MMERCE. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  attempts  to  resuscitate  the  commerce 
of  the  lower  Mississij)))i  after  the  war  is  found  in  the  organization  of 
companies  for  the  ojieration  of  barge  lines  between  St.  T.ouis  afnl^ 
New'  Orleans.  The  invasion  of  river  territory  by  the  railways  had, 
for  reasons  already  noted,  led  to  the  abandonment  of  the  old  pas- 
senger packet  steamboat  in  favor  of  towboats  or  j)r<ipelling  steam- 
boats with  tows  of  barges  or  Hats  which  held  the  freight.  This  has 
already  been  shown  in  the  descrij)tion  of  the  Ohio  Kiver  coal  trade. 
This  method  appeared  again  in  the  St.  I^ouis  barge  lines,  but  with 

"  Ex.  Doc.  48th  Cong.,  Ist  sesa..  vol.  4. 


56  TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI    RIVER    SYSTEM. 

this  difference,  that  the  barges  were  much  larger  and  more  expen- 
sivel}^  constructed,  and  that  the  propellers  were  huilt  with  a  greater 
view  to  speed  than  was  the  case  with  the  Ohio  boats.  It  was  intended 
that  these  lines  should  handle  general  merchandise  as  well  as  grain, 
and  should  deliver  their  products  speedily  and  on  schedule  time  at 
New  Orleans. 

The  boats  carried  fuel  for  a  round  trip  and  no  passengers  except 
the  crews.  They  made  stops  only  long  enough  to  pick  up  additional 
barges  at  points  along  the  river,  and  in  this  way  could  avoid  steam- 
boat delays  and  make  a  high  average  speed. 

The  barges  had  a  capacity  of  from  50,000  to  60,000  bushels  of  grain 
each,  and  could  be  loaded  c[uickly  from  elevator  spouts.  A  tow  boat 
often  left  St.  Louis  with  from  4  to  6  barges  attached.  At  New  Orleans 
stationary  and  floating  elevators  received  the  grain.  The  character 
of  trafhc  other  than  grain  handled  by  the  barges  is  best  illustrated  by 
the  description  of  a  shipment  from  St.  Louis  in  1880  quoted  by  the 
St.  Louis  Republican.     The  contents  of  the  barges  were  as  follows: 

4,371  barrels  of  flour. 
1,296  barrels  of  meal. 
1,090  barrels  of  grits. 
5,258  sacks  of  corn. 

802  sacks  of  oats. 

650  sacks  of  bran. 
1,296  packages  of  lard. 

204  packages  of  meat . 

150  bales  of  hay. 
24,992  bushels  of  bulk  corn. 

This  total  was  estimatefl  as  equivalent  to  155  carloads  of  freight. 

In  1875  there  were  only  4  tugboats  and  30  barges  employed 
between  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans,  but  in  1887  four  barge  lines  were 
operating  16  tugboats  and  120  barges.  These  barge  lines  were  later 
consoliihxted  into  one  corporation  known  as  the  "St.  Louis  and 
■Mississippi  Valley  Transportation  Company." 

The  most  important  traflic  of  the  barge  lines  was  tliat  in  bulk 
grain,  and  tlie  commercial  history  of  this  commodity  is  worth  a 
moment's  attention.  In  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century 
New  Orleans  had  received  large  quantities  of  cereals  by  river  for 
export  to  foreign  ports  and  to  Atlantic  seaboard  cities.  This  traflic 
fell  off  after  the  invasion  of  the  primary  grain  markets  by  the  rail- 
ways, with  tlie  result  that  in  1873  New  Orleans  exported  less  than 
2^  per  cent  of  the  corn  and  less  than  one-half  of  1  per  cent  of  the 
wheat.  Grain,  particularly  corn,  still  moved  soutli  for  local  con- 
sumption, but  in  increasing  proportion  by  rail.  Tlie  Select  Oom- 
mittec  on  Transjiortation  Routes  to  the  Seaboard  stated  that  the 
(export  of  wheat  from  New  Orleans  in  1873  was  243,027  l)ushels  out 
of  a  total  export  of  50.733,672  bushels,  of  which  New  York  liandled 
21,221,254  bushels.  Of  corn  <>46,457  bushels  were  exported  in  1873 
from  New  Orleans  out  of  a  total  from  the  United  States  of  38,541,930 
bushels. 

In  the  liiiiidling  of  grain  out  of  S( .  Louis  (here  ;i,pp('a.is  Ncry  early 
to  iiave  Ix'CMi  genuine  competition  between  rail  and  water  routes. 
'1  he  lirst  shipment  of  grain  from  St.  Louis  cast  by  rail  took  j)lace  in 
1805,  and  fi'oin  that  date  tlie  railways  extending  to  the  Atlantic  sea- 
boai<l    frequently   engaged    in    i-ate   wars,    at   one   time   tiansporting 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI    KIVER   SYSTEM. 


57 


<^iiiiii  fioiu  St.  Loui.s  t(*  tlic  si'ii.l>()uril  at  as  low  a  rale  as  9  cents  jicr 
bushel.  In  1S7.S  a  pool  was  formed  (Mnl)racin<;  all  the  road.s  conned- 
in^i;  the  Atlantic- iseahourd  with  St.  Louis  and  other  conipetin^  western 
points.  1  he  laihvays,  bein^  bound  to  maintain  theii-  rates,  could  no 
lonf!;er  meet  the  watei'  rates.  This,  coming  coincidently  with  the  coin- 
|)letion  of  the  jetties  at  the  month  ol"  the  river, <iave  such  a  stimulus  to 
livercommerce  that  almost  the  cut  iic  <i,raiii  exports  fi-om  St.  Louis  went 
to  New  Orleans.  But  this  sudden  burst  of  |n-ospeiity  was  .short  lived. 
The  railways  were  at  war  a^ain  in  ISSl,  and  the  liver  boats  weie 
unable  to  carry  "jrain  at  war  rates.  For  a  time  thereafter  the  <^rain 
traflic  by  river  (luctuated  with  the  condition  of  harvests,  and  with  tlie 
signinti;  or  breakinjij  of  treaties  of  j)eace  between  the  railways,  but 
after  1896  it  entered  upon  a  decline,  and  in  11)0.3  it  ceased  altoj^ether. 
To  the  destruction  of  l)arj!;e-line  tralllc  not  alone  railway  competiti(jn. 
but  also  a  rapid  depreciation  of  e(|ui|)ment  and  hi<j;h  marine  insur- 
ance rates  contributed.  The  following  table,  compiled  by  the  Bureau 
of  (\)rj)orations,"  shows  th(>  trallic  in  grain  from   ISTO  to  1!)()M. 

Shipmetitt)  of  bulk  grain  from  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans  riu   Mi-sifixsippi  Hi nr  boats, 

1870-1903. 

[Compiled  (roui  Si.  Louis  Merchants'  Kxchouge  reports.] 


Year. 

Wheat. 

Corn, 
Bushels-. 

Rye. 
Buxliels. 

Oats. 
Builiels. 

Total. 

1870..." 

Bushels. 
66,000 

BusliClJi. 
66.000 

1871 

309,077 
1,711.039 
1,373.969 
1,047,794 

172.617 
1,737,237 
3,578.057 
2,857,056 
3,585,589 
9,804,392 
8, 640, 720 
2,529,712 
9,029.509 
4,496,785 
8,180.039 
7,501,730 
7,365.340 
5,844,042 
12.398,955 
8.717,849 
1,482.731 
3, -228, 645 
3.293.808 
1,26:1,310 
l,2ol.8a3 
8.  :}58, 087 
3,827.96;{ 
3,006,488 
1.748,517 
2,871,870 

535,705 

226,400 
1,025,221 

3,000 

312,077 

1872 

1,711,039 

1873 

1 ,  373,  »(i9 

1874 

365,252 

135,  %1 
37, 142 

351,453 
1,876,639 
2,390,897 
5,913,272 
4,197,981 
5,637,391 
1,4.35,043 
1.318,688 
50.000 

743, 439 
3,973,737 
1,247,952 
1,651.950 
1.409.440 
6,940,215 
5, 149, 708 
3,710,3tW 
1,042,193 

438.614 
1,732,563 
1.191,032 
2, 747, 994 

234.720 

169,241 
1,828,244 
2,308,714 
1,724,220 

10,000 

1 ,  42.3, 046 

1875                 .           

;«>x,  578 

1 876 

1.774.. 379 

1877 

171, »43 

609,041 

157, 424 

45,000 

22, 423 

15,994 

2ft5,4.30 

344,864 

36,093 

4, 101.. 353 

1878                        

108,867 
30,928 

5,451,603 

1879 

6,164,838 

1S80                                                       

15,762,664 

1881 

i;j2, 82.3 
150,320 
389. 826 
487,221 
401,787 
598, 755 
217,722 
160,584 
89,707 
89,960 

12,993,947 

1882 

S.:«3,417 

1883 

1 1 .  a^9. 808 

1884 

6,(i47,558 

1885 

8,667,919 

1S86                                                  

8,843,924 

1887             .              

11, .5.56, 799 

1888 

7,252,578 

1889 

17,432 
45,"o66" 

14,158,044 

1890 

10.217.249 

1X91 

8.4t>.s,54«i 

IH92                                          

36,587 
75,430 
40,000 

8.414.940 

1,S93 

7,079,598 

1894                                                         

2,  .345. 503 

1895                               

1,690,417 

1896 

43«"i,558 
265,379 
633,505 
249,998 
273,049 

10..527.2»»8 

1897 

{90,908 
212,7-20 

5.475.;n2 

1898                                             

6,600.707 

1899 

2. 233, 2;« 

UJ03                                                           

.{,314,160 

1901.                                 

2,3(i3,949 

1902 

28,212 

28,409 

2,591,735 

1903                                                  

2.749,441 

For  the  seventeen  years  from  1SS7  until  l!>()o  the  avera.u'e  pub- 
lished rates  on  s:rain  from  St.  Louis  to  Liverpool  by  river  to  New  Oi- 
leans  were  from  5  to  9  cents  j)er  bushel  lower  than  tho.s<'  via  rail  to 
New  York.  If  these  published  rates  were  the  actual  rates  char<;eil, 
it  is  evident  that  other  considerations  were  sullicient  to  offsei  .i  con- 


o  Transportation  by  Water  in  thf»  T'lnioil  Siatos,  Part  TI. 


58 


TKAFFIC   HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER  SYSTEM. 


siderable  advantage  in  the  transportation  charge.     The  following  table 
gives  the  comparative  rates  for  this  period : 

Average  published  rates  of  freight  St.  Louis  to  Liverpool  on  wheat,  in  cents,  per  bushel, 

1887-1903.a 


Year. 

Via  river 
and  New 
Orleans. 

Via  rail  and 
New  Yorlt. 

Year. 

'  Via  river 
and  New 
Orleans. 

Via  rail  and 
New  York. 

1887 

IS 

15^ 

m 

15f 

14 

14.71 

11.69 

12i 

24J 

22.95 

24.97 

21.48 

23. 55 

21 

21.72 

18.71 

18.33 

1896 

13.50 
12. 89 
14.24 
12.33 
14.64 
9.48 
8.53 
10.00 

19. 67  J 
20.33 

1888 

1897 

1889 

1898 

20  32 

1890 

1899 

17  88 

1891 

1900 

18.41 

1892 

1901       .   . 

14  03 

1893 

1902 

15  33 

1894 

1903 

16.02 

1895 

o  Report  St.  Louis  Merchanls'  Exchange,  1908. 

Lack  of  railway  facilities  in  the  South  before  the  war  and  the  exe- 
crable condition  of  the  roads  led  the  planters  to  locate  their  cotton 
lands  along  the  river  banks,  and  transportation  of  cotton  was  almost 
wholly  by  water.  Alabama  planters  sent  their  cotton  b}^  way  of  the 
Tennessee  River  to  New  Orleans,  and  such  points  as  Memphis,  Vicks- 
burg,  Natchez,  and  Shreveport  became  important  collecting  and 
shipping  ports.  In  the  decade  1850-1860  cotton  w^as  by  far  the  most 
important  product  received  by  river  at  New  Orleans. 

With  the  development  of  railways  in  the  South  after  1865,  tlie 
establishment  of  cotton-manufacturing  plants  at  various  points  in 
the  South,  the  extension  of  cotton  culture  westward  beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi into  territory  not  served  by  waterwaj^s,  and  the  change  in 
the  methods  of  purchasing,  compressing,  and  shipping  cotton,  the 
waterw^ays  became  of  decreasing  importance.  The  immense  cotton 
territory  extending  up  the  Mississippi  and  along  the  Red,  Ouachita, 
Arkansas,  and  White  rivers,  which  had  sent  its  cotton  to  New  Orleans 
wholly  by  water,  began  to  ship  its  product  by  rail.  By  1880  ship- 
ments of  cotton  from  the  Arkansas  and  the  White  rivers  had  prac- 
tically ceased.  The  Red  and  the  Ouachita  still  clung  for  a  time  to 
traflic  which  was  too  remote  from  a  railway  to  be  economically  han- 
dled in  that  manner.  But  in  1881  a  branch  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific 
was  completed  which  paralleled  the  Mississippi  to  Baton  Rouge,  and 
followed  in  general  the  direction  of  the  Red  River  as  far  as  Shreve- 
port. This  soon  rechiced  the  commerce  of  the  Red  River  to  insig- 
nificance. 

In  tlie  early  (hiys  Vicksburg  was  one  of  tlie  most  important  com- 
mercial (h'pendencies  of  \ew  Orleans,  shipj)ing  immense  (juantities 
of  cotton  and  receiving  supplies  for  distribution  inland.  But  th(^ 
Yazoo  country  was  lost  to  the  river  when  the  Yazoo  and  Mississij)pi 
Raihoad,  running  througli  the  Mississippi  delta  region,  was  opened 
in  1884.  In  1899  this  railway  carried  483,000  bales  of  cotton  or 
40  per  cent  more  than  all  the  rivers  combined.  The  Natchez,  .lack- 
son  and  Columbus  Railroad  was  com])leted  in  1882.  Natchez,  for- 
merly the  most  important  river  town  between  New  Orleans  and 
Ijouisvillc,  was  soon  thereaft(>r  without  any  regular  pack(^t  liiu^  from 
New  Orleans.  By  188"  Ihic'e-fourths  of  the  cotton  of  Natchez  and 
Vicksburg    was    being    h.-mdlcd    by    rail.     Northeastern   Mississippi, 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM. 


0\) 


northern  Georo;ia,  western  Tenne.s.see  and  Kentucky  in  thi.s  neriod 
be<jjan  sendinc^  their  cotton  by  rail  to  Savannah,  (  harleston,  and  Nor- 
folk. Mcmpliis,  altlioujj^h  still  receivin<;  a  considcrabh*  quantity 
of  cotton  by  river,  2o,'M)'2  ton.s  in  WHH),  send.s  out  nio.st  of  it  by  rail- 
way. 

New  Orleans  has  been  compensated  lor  her  river  losses  by  rail 
receipts  from  Texas  plantations,  so  that  the  total  cotton  receipts  at 
New  Orleans  have  steadily  increased.  The  following;  table  slunvs 
the  receipts  of  cotton  at  New  Orleans  lor  a  serii's  of  years,  and  tlie 
percentage  received  by  river: 

Receipts  uf  cotton  at  ^ew  Urleamfi 


Year. 

RweipU 
by  rail. 

BaUi. 

4;«.495 

40<i.076 

(i27.577 

1,018,201 

1,722.473 

l,9;i5.177 

1,833,7.55 

2,082,053 

Receipts 
by  river. 

rcrcentac* 
by  river. 

1873        

BtUn. 

908.877 

7.50,080 

1,087.  .522 

080.37<i 

08. 8 

1875                                                                                                

04.8 

1880 

03.5 

1885     

40.0 

1890 

425,828                   19.8 

1899                                                                           

343.450                  1.5.0 

1904         

192,842  1                 9.6 

1907         

231,381  1                10.0 

Reports  New  Orleans  Cotton  Exchange. 


The  decline  in  grain  and  cotton  traffic  on  the  lower  Missi.'^sijtpi  is 
t}'pical  of  the  movement  on  this  section  of  the  river.  By  1887  there 
was  not,  with  the  exce])tion  of  J^ayou  Sara,  a  town  on  the  lower  Mis- 
sissippi of  over  1,000  population  which  was  without  railway  connec- 
tion with  New  Orleans,  St.  Louis,  or  Menii)liis.  To  the  boating  inter- 
ests was  left  undisturbed  only  the  local  cominerce  between  the  river 
villages.  Evansville,  Puducah,  and  Wheeling  had  no  longer  tlirect 
lines  of  stejimers  to  New  Orleans.  The  (  incinnati  trade  had  been 
reduced  to  one-quarter  of  its  former  size,  and  one  line  ()f  through 
steamers  was  sufficient  to  care  for  the  (incinnati  and  Louisville  trade 
with  New  Orleans.  The  latter  city  had  almost  entirely  lost  its  earlier 
trade  in  "western  products,"  as  the  following  table  shows: 

Western  produce  exported  from  New  ()rhiuu,J'or  the  years  1856  and  ISSG.' 


Arliclc. 

Year  endln 
185C. 

B  June  30— 
1886. 

Wheat  flour 

barrels.. 

251.501 

1.177,700 

3.  MO.  150 

4,075.900 

20,0tiC..901 

25.833 

24,832 

Beef 

pounds.. 

1-2C.,540 

r.do.... 

149.481 

Pork 

do.... 

801,588 

do.... 

:{47,196 

eallons.. 

3,540 

a  Report  on  Internal  Commerce  of  the  I'nited  States,  1880. 

Since  1887  the  situation  has  not  iiui)roved  and  to-day  the  river 
from  St.  Louis  south,  aside  from  the  transportation  of  cotton  on  its 
lower  stretches,  and  the  receipt  and  conveyance  of  coal  from  the 
Ohio,  is  a  negligible  transportation  factor. 


60  TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM. 

There  are  no  longer  any  through  passenger  or  packet  boats  from 
St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans.  All  through  freights  (except  on  barges) 
must  usually  be  transferred  from  packet  to  packet  at  Memphis  and 
Vicksburg.  Occasionally  a  few  passenger  boats  make  the  through 
trip  upstream  or  down  for  the  benefit  of  excursionists,  but  only 
a  few  times  a  year."  Between  St.  Louis  and  Cairo  there  is  nothing 
but  local  traffic  between  river  towns.  The  total  tonnage  handled 
in  1906  amounted  to  458,000  tons,  of  which  the  largest  items  were 
coal  171,000  tons  and  logs  120,000  tons.  Cairo  was  formerl}^  an 
important  river  shipping  point  for  grain,  but  the  railways  destroyed 
the  water  traffic  by  low  rates,  and  by  granting  certain  transit  privi- 
leges and  establishing  switch  connections.  It  is  a  typical  instance  of 
the  struggle  of  efficiency  against  inefficiency,  which  will  be  referred  to 
again  in  the  conclusion  to  this  discussion. 

Between  Cairo  and  Memphis  the  through  business  is  controlled 
by  railways  on  both  sides  of  the  river  and,  except  for  coal  south- 
ward and  lumber  northward,  the  traffic  is  insignificant  and  local. 
One  packet  line  only  operates  between  Memphis  and  St.  Louis  and 
Cincinnati.  Between  Memphis  and  Vicksburg  there  is  a  considerable 
traffic  in  logs  and  lumber  brought  down  from  the  tributaries.  South- 
ward the  logs  are  propelled  in  rafts,  but  northward  they  are  handled, 
like  lumber,  in  barges.  The  season  is  a  long  one,  usually  about  nine 
months,  and  the  radius  of  movement  is  250  to  300  miles  from  Memphis. 
In  1906  about  three-quarters  of  a  million  tons  were  handled. 

Cotton  begins  to  appear  in  the  river  statistics  from  Memphis  south- 
ward. Iron  and  steel  products  to  some  extent  come  down  the  river 
to  Meinphis  from  the  Pittsburg  district.  From  Memphis  southward 
are  shipped  general  merchandise  and  plantation  supplies;  return 
shipments,  which  are  considerable,  consist  of  cotton  and  cotton  seed. 
Commerce  on  the  White  River  in  1907  amounted  to  128,000  tons, 
most  of  which  was  logs,  ties,  and  lumber.  On  the  Arkansas  in  1907 
the  total  tonnage  was  105,000  tons,  largely  logs  and  lumber. 

Between  Vicksburg  and  New  Orleans  the  local  tradic  is  greater, 
and  miscellaneous  merchandise  plays  a  larger  part.  Only  a  few 
local  lines  remain  in  operation  from  ^  icksburg  south,  as  this  stretch 
of  the  river  is  under  almost  complete  railway  dominance.  Yazoo 
River  commerce  amounted  in  1907  to  228,000  tons,  the  largest  items 
being  Unnber  and  logs.  The  Red  River  still  ships  some  cotton, 
lumber,  and  plantation  supplies,  the  extent  of  the  traffic  varying 
with  the  condition  ol"  navigation,  and  cotton  and  lumber  still  come 
from  the  Ouacliita.  Of  the  total  commerce  on  the  Mississippi  i)roj)er 
between  Vicksburg  and  New  Orjeans,  iimounting  in  1906  to  2,55-1 ,000 
tons,  832,000  tons,  or  33  per  cent,  consisted  of  coal  from  the  Ohio, 
and  859,000  tons,  or  34  per  cent,  of  gravel,  sand,  and  stone. 

The  commerce  of  the  river  j)ort  ol  New  Orleans  has  been  discussed 
already  in  connection  with  tiie  coal,  grain,  and  cotton  trade.  Aside 
from  the.se  products,  and  the  lumber  and  logs  received  from  the 
Missi.ssi|)pi  tributaries,  there  is  some  traflic  in  rough  rice,  in  petro- 
leum, and  in  miscellaneous  mercliandise.  The  total  river  commerce 
of  New  Orleans  is  estiiunlcul  bv  the  Bui(>!iu  of  Corpoi'ations  to  be  over 
1,800, ()()()  Ions.     If  tiiis  fi.'ure  be  c()m[)ared  with  a  total  in  1880  of 


oR.  Doc.  No.  50,  eist  Cong.,  1st  sess. 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY    OF    MISSISSIPPI    KIVER  SYSTEM.  Gl 

2,959,250  tons,  not  including  rafts,  it  will  be  seen  that  tlicrc  lias  been 
a  heavy  falling  off  in  river  commerce  at  this  jxjrt. 

Neither  has  this  port  been  able,  even  with  tlic  aid  which  railways 
have  all'orded  in  later  decades,  to  maintain  its  position  as  an  export- 
ing and  importing  point.  In  ISliU,  27  per  cent  of  the  total  exports 
from  the  L  nited  States  went  by  way  of  Aew  Orleans  and  0.;-{  per  cent 
of  the  imports  were  received  through  this  port.  In  IhSG  the  j)ercent- 
age  of  exports  was  12  per  cent  and  of  imports  l.l  per  cent;  in  1907 
the  percentage  of  exports^  was  9.07  i)er  cent  and  of  imports  '.i:2\  per 
cent.  However,  other  causes,  beyond  the  scope  of  the  present  dis- 
cussion, have  affected  the  position  of  New  Orleans  as  a  coiniucicial 
port. 

The  present  condition  of  traflic  on  the  lower  Mississip])i  may  be 
clearly  shown  by  the  reproduction  of  a  table  presented  m  a  re<-ent 
report  of  a  board  of  United  States  engineers." 

ttH.  Doc.  No.  50,  Gist  Cong.,  Ist  aeea. 


62 


TRAFFIC    HISTOEY   OF   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM. 


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TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM. 


63 


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64  TRAFFIC    HISTORY    OF    MISSISSIPPI    RIVER   SYSTEM. 

SUMMARY. 

It  is  difficult  to  summarize  statistically  the  present  traffic  condi- 
tion of  the  Mississippi  River  system.  The  reports  of  the  corps  of 
United  States  Engineers  cover  specific  sections  of  the  river,  and  are 
pui)lished  as  made,  with  no  attempt  to  unif}'^  them  and  eliminate 
duplications.  The  Census  Report  on  Transportation  b^"  Water  in 
1906  excluded  all  logs  and  lumber  in  rafts,  and  confined  its  statistics 
to  the  traffic  transported  by  some  form  of  vessel.  Inasmuch  as 
rafting  has  always  been  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  reliance  for  interior 
river  commerce,  this  leaves  the  total  figures  incomplete  at  a  vital 
point.  The  total  receipts  and  shipments  on  the  entire  system  for 
vessels  of  over  5  tons,  including  harbor  traffic  and  car  ferries,  amounted 
in  1906  to  31,626,981  net  tons.  To  this  should  ])e  added,  according 
to  the  report  of  Bureau  of  Corporations,  at  least  6,000,000  tons  of 
logs  and  rafts.  Of  the  total  freight  movement,  exclusive  of  iiarbor 
traffic  and  car  ferries,  amounting  to  19,531,093  tons,  more  than  56 
per  cent  was  coal,  and  20  per  cent  stone  and  sand.  This  was  an 
increase  in  coal  traffic  since  1889  of  29.4  per  cent,  and  in  stone  and 
sand  of  1,147  per  cent.  Lumber  and  logs  in  rafts  not  being  included, 
it  is  impossible  to  determine  exactly  their  movement  during  these 
fifteen  years,  but  the  decline  has  probably  been  fully  25  per  cent. 
The  movement  of  grain,  cotton,  and  iron  ore  has  fallen  to  insignifi- 
cant amounts. 

A-  characteristic  feature  of  river  transportation,  which  has  been 
growing  steadily  more  pronounced  since  1865,  is  the  predominance 
of  the  unrigged  craft  over  the  packet  steamboat.  In  1906,  out  of  a 
total  of  9,622  vessels  on  the  river  system,  8,187,  or  85  percent,  were 
unrigged,  and  of  the  steam  vessels  only  390  were  employed  for  the 
carrying  of  freight  and  passengers  in  regular  river  service.  The 
remainder  were  tugs  and  towing  vessels,  ferryboats  and  yachts. 
By  these  unrigged  craft  most  of  the  traffic  was  transportetl,  the  largest 
part  of  tlie  commerce  being  in  Ohio  River  coal.  Out  of  a  total  of 
19,531,093  tons  carried,  13,980,368  tons,  or  71  per  cent,  were  trans- 
ported on  the  Ohio  in  barges  and  flats.  Aside  from  bulk  traffic  in 
barges,  flats,  and  rafts,  the  business  on  tlie  i-iver  is  almost  wholly 
local  and  for  short  distances. 

This  decline  has  been  tlie  subject  of  much  comment,  particularly 
by  those  who  have  observed  the  extended  use  to  which  waterways 
have  been  put  in  many  of  the  European  countries.  Yet  the  causes 
are  not  far  to  seek.  It  slioidd  be  remarked,  however,  that  they  are 
so  interwoven  one  with  the  other  that  it  will  be  somewhat  difficult 
to  discuss  them  separately  witliout  apparent  exaggeration  of  the 
importance  of  the  particular  cause  as  it  is  consideied. 

The  first  cause  which  suggests  itself  is  that  of  the  influence  of  com- 
petitive agencies,  Ix'giuuing  with  the  eastward  movement  by  lake 
and  canal  early  in  the  thirties,  and  followed  by  the  rail  movement  in 
the  next  two  decades.  This  latter  agency  was  undoubtedly  more 
edicicnl  fiom  the  very  beginning,  })ecause  of  its  greater  power  to 
a(lai)t  itself  to  varied  Iraflic  re(|uiivments.  It  is  llexible  in  matters 
of  s|)eed,  extensibility,  terminal  adaptability,  and  the  like,  and  it  is, 
moi>'over,  much  more  rcliahle.     (\)ns(H|uent !y,  it  (\w\y  away  at  once 


TEAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM.  65 

all  |)assenger  tiavcl,  ('.\cej)t  excursion  husincss  and  lociil  <»r  Unvx 
tiaflic,  and  all  mail,  oxpiess,  and  I'ast-lVoitjht  hiisiness,  uliioli  deprived 
the  steanihoats  of  their  most  lueiative  sources  of  euinings,  l)eing 
greatly  aided  in  this  endeavor  hv  the  interruption  to  water  trans- 
|)ortation  during  the  war.  But  not  only  was  the  railway  naturally 
more  eflicientj  but  it  grew  more  eflicient,  relatively,  as  the  years  went 
on,  for  the  steamboat  l)usiness  stood  still  ordeclineil  nffer  isfio,  cxcei)t 
in  its  handling  of  a  few  products  by  barge. 

Whether  it  is  true  («•  not,  as  frecjuently  charged,  that  rail\\a\s  have 
secured  control  of  steamboat  lines,  have  purposely  kept  them  inefli- 
cient,  and  hav(>  operated  them  to  keep  eJiicient  sei'vice  off  the  rivers, 
it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  they  have,  as  earlier  noted,  reduced  rates 
at  water  competitive  points  and  recouped  themselves  elsewhere.  In 
this  practice,  supporteil  as  they  are  by  judicial  decree,  they  have  a 
monopolized  advantage  fi'oni  w  liicli  competing  steamboat  lines  are 
excluded. 

The  ({uestion  whether  the  livers  any  longer  exert  an  inlluence  u|)on 
rail  rates  has  been  fre(juently  dehated.  emj)hatic  assertions  by  the 
railways  that  such  influence  is  still  ))otent  IxMng  met  by  e(jually 
em])hatic  statements  that  the  river  in  its  present  condition  is  power- 
less to  afi'ect  the  rail  late.  In  th(>  j)r(>liniinary  leport  of  the  Inland 
Waterways  Commission  are  included  elal)orate  com[)aiisons  of  rail 
and  water  rates  to  various  j^oints  for  different  classes  and  kinds  of 
commodities.  It  would  api)ear  from  a  careful  study  of  the  tables 
healing  upon  the  Mississijipi  Kiver  situation  that  the  waterway, 
inedicient  as  it  is,  exerts  an  influence  to-day  upon  the  rail  rat(»  varying 
in  degiee  according  to  ciicumstances.  This  is  made  clear  by  a  com- 
})aris()n  of  rates  charged  by  railways  paralleling  the  Mississippi  north 
of  St.  Louis,  where  water  traflic  still  i)ievails,  with  rates  chai'ged  for 
similar  distances  by  railways  ])aralleling  the  Missouri,  which  is  no 
longer  a  commercial  factor.  Kates  on  this  stretch  of  the  Missi.ssippi 
are  lower  for  the  same  commodity  and  distance.  Yet  when  the  cost 
of  marine  insurance  is  added  to  the  river  rate,  and  also  the  drayage 
charges  which  so  frequently  accompany  the  consignment  and  receipt 
of  river  ti'aflic,  it  is  a  question  whether  I'ailways  could  not.  if  they  saw 
lit,  absorb  most  of  the  water  Irallic.  provided  their  e(|uipinent  was 
adecpiate. 

The  table  given  l)elo\\  includes  typical  rates  drawn  from  an  exhibit 
presented  in  a  recent  special  i-e|)ort  of  a  board  of  United  States 
engineers.  It  .shows  in  parallel  columns  the  rail  and  water  rates  on 
sections  of  the  lower  Mississippi.  It  will  be  oh.served  that  in  some 
cases  the  rail  rates  are  lower  than  the  water  rates,  in  some  cases 
maleriallv  higher,  and  in  some  cases  the  rates  are  identical.  Not- 
withstanding these  variations,  however,  most  of  the  traffic  .seeks  the 
lailwav.  One  further  fact  should  b(>  noted.  The  distance  Ix'tween 
terminal  points  is  in  every  case  materially  shorter  by  rail.  This  is  an 
advantage  which  the  I'ailway  almost  inv!iri;il>ly  eiijoxv. 

19SM    0!) 5 


66 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY    OF    MISSISSIPPI    RIVER    SYSTEM. 


Freight  rates  per  ton  by  rail  and  water,  December.  1908." 


Mileage  '  Sand  and      Manufao-   i  Grains  and  ,     cnnnr^ 
distance.       gravel.      ^  tured  iron.        seeds.           «-^oiiou. 

SsTs'       I- ore. 

points. 

Water. 
Rail. 

Water. 
Rail. 

'5 

Water. 
Rail. 
Water. 
Rail. 

03 

$3. 40 
2.00 
2.  .50 

2.00 
2.00 
2.00 

Rail. 
Water. 

'3 

From  St.  Louis 
to- 
st. Paul 

729 
182 
420 

366 
284 
132 

576 
150 

$2. 00  '$i.  70 

$2.80 
2.00 

$4.20 
2. 10 

$2.80  $3.00  i$8.00  $5.20 
3.00               |. 

$3.20  $2.00 

2.72    

6.00    

2.00    

2.00    

1.50    

$3.00 
1  68 

Memphis 

From  New  Or- 
leans to— 
Vicksburg. . . 

Natchez 

Baton  Rouge 

311 

227 
214 
89 

2.50 
"."36' 

1.60 

1.60 
1.60 
1.40 

.3.00 

2.60 

2.40 
2.40 
2.40 

5. 00     2. 40  1  3. 60     2.  20 

2.40     2.40  I  4.00    

2.  40  1  2. 40     4.  00    

2.00     1.60     3.00  !  3.00 

1            1 

3.00 

3.40 
3.40 
1.40 

a  H.  Doc.  50,  61st  Cong.,  1st  sess. 

The  lack  of  development  of  river  equipment,  alie.idy  referred  to, 
has  been  based  in  larp:e  ]"art  upon  legitimate  groimds — an  unwilling- 
ness to  invest  capital  in  an  industry  so  highly  speculative.  The 
risks  are  not  alone  those  of  railway  origin,  but  they  arise  in  part  from 
the  natural  difhculties  of  navigation.  Obstructions  due  to  snags 
and  bars  on  all  the  rivers  except  the  Missouri  have  to  a  considerable 
extent  been  removed,  although  they  are  constantly  liable  to  reappear. 
The  barrier  at  the  mouth  of  the  ^Mississippi,  which  until  1878  gave  the 
railways  a  decided  advantage,  is  now  gone.  But  there  still  remain 
many  obstacles.  Ice  stops  navigation  for  many  months  of  each  year 
in  the  upper  river.  The  swiftness  of  the  current  demands  a  costly 
adjustment  of  business  methods  to  meet  the  requirements  of  upstream 
traffic — a  difficulty  absent  in  the  Lakes.  The  shifting  and  irregular 
current  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  water  supply  menace  navigation. 
To  such  an  extent  is  this  true  on  the  upper  Mississippi  that  the  one 
line  now  operating  between  St.  Louis  and  St.  Paul  declines  to  make 
season  contracts,  and  accepts  shipments  for  single  trips  only.  Then 
there  are  the  variations  in  dc])th  of  water,  most  strikingly  shown  on 
the  u])}5er  Ohio  with  the  January  and  February  floods,  when  the 
river  sometimes  rises  at  Cincinnati  to  70  feet  above  low^-w^ater  mark. 
This  variation  in  water  depth  is  not  alone  dangerous  to  navigation, 
but  it  prevents  the  application  of  capital  to  the  greatest  economic 
advantage.  On  the  Lakes,  with  an  assured  depth  of  water,  the  largest 
vessels  can  be  em])loved  and  loaded  to  their  ca]iacity.  It  is  not  ])rofit- 
able  to  build  vessels  on  the  rivers  which  can  run  only  in  the  best  stages, 
and  whicii  mii.st  lie  idle  during  the  rest  of  the  year.  But  light-draft 
vessels  are  not  economical  in  good  stages  of  water.  Moreover,  these 
sharj)  and  sudden  variations  in  the  stage  of  water  have  made  fixed 
wharves  im|)ossible  and  have  compelled  the  use  of  the  less  enici(Mit 
flcjating  dock.  In  low  stages  the  cost  of  loading  and  unloading  is 
.sensibly  increased  in  many  ])laces  by  reason  of  the  stee]i  and  high 
river  banks. 

liut  navigation  is  hindered  not  alone  by  variations  in  stage  of  water 
due  U)  floods  and  droughts,  but  also  by  tlie  normal  dill'eience  in  (iej)tii 
of  the  did'erent  sections  of  the  livei-  system,  'i'lie  lack  of  development 
in  the  past  of  any  through  trafiic  from  the  upper  Mississipj)i  to  New 
Oi'leans,  and  the  jxMsistence  ol'  the  costly  i)ractice  of  transfer  at  St. 


TRAFFIC    HISTOKV    OF    MISSISSIl'IM    UIVKK    SYSTEM.  H7 

Louis,  have  hccn  duo  to  t  his  (lillcrcncc  iu  dci'lli  ol"  the  lower  .'iikI  iipjx'c 
river,  and  to  the  conseciuent  diU'ereiue  in  draft  of  vessel  ('ni;>loyed. 
It  was  to  meet  this  dilliculty  that  the  harL'e  system  was  introduced, 
whose  units,  similar  to  railway  cars,  eould  he  dioiJped  oi"  attached  at 
will,  and  handled  on  did'erent  stretches  of  liver  without  the  necessity 
of  transfer  of  load. 

Althou<;h  it  must  he  admitted  that  from  a  mivijration  standj)oint 
the  condition  of  the  Mississij)|)i  is  much  sujx'iior  to  what  it  was  in 
the  days  of  its  commercial  j)rosperity,  vet  nnich  icmains  to  i)c  done 
and  much  which  is  once  done  has  to  l)e  frequently  rej)eated.  The 
destruction  of  hanks  due  to  shiftin<;  channels,  an<l  the  fact  that  the 
Missouri  uses  the  lower  Mississii)i>i  as  a  dum])in<^  *i;roun<l,  make 
continuous  dredffing  lu^cessarv,  and  any  iessenin*^  of  vi<);ilance  in 
this  direction  tlirouo;h  failure  of  conjiressional  appropriations  is 
promptly  punished  bv  a  seiious  impairment  of  the  m>vit;ability 
of  the  stream.  Yet  liowever  serious  navi^ition  diflicidties  may 
appear  to  us,  they  can  not,  except  to  a  small  deo;iee,  explain  the 
decline  of  liver  comnuM-c<\  For  in  spite  of  all  obstructions,  we  possess 
fi'ee  waterwavs  which  are  in  many  respects  snperioi-  to  those  of 
Europe;  yet  we  have  but  a  fraction  of  their  tonnajje.  A  dead  low- 
water  channel  of  4V  feet  pi'cvails  throughout  the  year  from  St.  Paul 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri.  Four  feel  draft  prevails  on  the  Mis- 
souri at  low  water  as  far  as  Kansas  City.  From  St.  Louis  to  Cairo 
there  are  only  a  few  days  in  the  year  when  a  boat  drawino;  8  feet  can 
not  operate  freely.  Below  Cairo  for  S40  miles  theie  is  a  9-foot 
depth  during  low  water,  and  for  the  last  270  miles  boats  of  25  to  30 
feet  draft  can  oj)erate.  On  the  Ohio  from  Cairo  to  Pitt.sburg,  there 
is  a  9-foot  de]>th  during  nnvlium  stages  of  water,  which  is  being 
improved  to  a  9-foot  depth  at  low  water.  In  comjiaiison  with  these 
figures  it  should  be  noted  that  much  of  the  canal  and  uj)rivei-  boat 
traffic  of  Europe  is  performed  on  1  meter  (3.28  feet)  draft;  most  of  it 
is  done  on  2  meters  (6.56  feet)  draft  and  10  feet  draft  is  exceptional." 
Hence  it  is  lack  of  uniformity  in  ililferent  sections  of  the  river,  and 
a  resulting  inability  to  use  equij)ment  to  the  best  advantage,  rather 
than  the  shallowness  of  the  streams  which  must  be  accounted  the 
important  navigation  o})sta(de. 

In  the  third  ])lace,  whether,  as  a  result  of  the  two  causes  just  men- 
tioned, railway  competition  and  navigation  obstacles,  or  whether, 
because  of  a  lack  of  initiative  on  the  part  of  river  interests  after  the 
war,  the  steamboat  business  has  been  wholly  lacking  in  the  admin- 
istrative organization  necessary  to  cope  with  so  superbly  organized  an 
industry  as  the  railway.  Capital  has  kept  out  of  it.  The  river  steam- 
boat, except  that  it  has  changed  from  a  passenger  to  a  freight  carrier, 
is  the  same  craft  as  always.  As  late  as  1906,  out  of  a  total  of  1,435 
steam  vessels  on  the  Mississi])i)i  Kiver  system,  1,358,  or  95  per  cent, 
were  of  wood.  The  old  inellicient  "roustabout"  labor  is  still  em- 
ployed, and  no  attempt  whatever  has  been  made  to  introduce  mechan- 
ical appliances  for  loading  and  unloading.  There  are  very  few 
satisfactory  wharves  and  docks,  jnany  of  the  landings  being  juade  (m 
the  river  bank,  and  the  goods  dumped  on  shore  without  cover.  As 
the  rivers  are  at  the  lowest  levels,  goods  must  be  hauled  u])hill  to 
reach  a  place  of  sale.     Good  natural  landings  are  few,  and  artificial 

"H.  Doc.  50,  p.  :i29.  »51st  <'(>nir..  1st  sess. 


68  TRAFFIC    HISTORY    OF    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM. 

ones  are  too  expensive  to  l)e  within  the  reach  of  small  communities. 
Thus  the  terminal  expenses  as  compared  Avith  the  more  flexible  rail- 
way are  veiy  heavy. 

Adequate  terminal  facilities  are  in  very  few  instances  owned  or 
controlled  by  water  lines. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  has  little  wharfage,  either  public  or  private,  except  the  graded 
river  bank;  East  St.  Louis  has  almost  no  public  landings  and  few  pri\'ate  ones;  Cairo 
111.,  has  several  piers  and  slips  and  some  few  floating  boat  landings  and  warehouses, 
but  all  under  private  monopoly.  Memphis  and  Mcksburg  have  limited  public  land- 
ings, con.-isting  merely  of  graded  banks  and  occasional  floating  warehouses.  The 
other  cities  are  less  well  pro\"ided.  Such  transfer  facilities  as  exist  at  the  Lake  Supe- 
rior and  Lake  Erie  grain,  ore,  and  coal  harbors  are  unknown  on  the  Mississippi.  The 
injury  to  freights  and  cost  of  transfer  by  reason  of  necessary  rehandling  at  the  water's 
edge,  and  subsequent  cartage  up  the  bank  and  across  the  city  to  the  consignee,  are 
usually  sufficient  to  outbalance  a  decided  higher  freight  rate  by  rail." 

In  many  cases  all  satisfactory  terminal  property  has  been  acquired 
by  the  railways.  For  example,  portions  of  the  river  front  at  Pitts- 
burg, Xew  Orleans,  St.  Louis,  and  Vicksburg  are  owned  by  railwa}'^ 
corporations.  The  primary  jjurpose  of  the  railways  is  not  to  check 
the  development  of  water  transportation,  but  to  secure  desirable 
land  for  switch  tracks  and  yards,  yet  its  effect  upon  the  development 
of  steamboat  traffic  is  disastrous. 

Furthermore,  nearly  half  of  the  steam  vessels  operated  on  the  Mi.s- 
sissippi,  representing,  however,  onh'  about  one-c(iuirter  of  the  ton- 
nage, are  owned  by  individuals,  and  are  run  independently  with  very 
little  thought  of  securing  united  action  toward  better  organization 
of  river  traffic.  This  makes  it  impossible  for  ship])ers  to  arrange  for 
through  handling  of  goods.  Repeated  rehandlings  by  irresnon.sible 
steand)oat  caj)tains  cause  (himage  to  the  goods,  and  make  location 
of  resj)onsibihty  for  the  damage  (lifficult  and  the  .settlement  slow  and 
costly.  Practically  the  only  traffic  which  is  well  organized  is  that  of 
coal  on  the  Ohio,  and  this  is  largely  under  the  control  of  a  single 
corporation.  Of  the  total  tonnage  in  1906  of  unrigged  vessels,  96.6 
per  cent  was  owned  by  corporations. 

Finally  there  was  and  still  is  a  funtlamental  cause  of  decline  of  river 
commerce  to  be  found  in  the  relation  of  trafiic  movement  to  traffic 
agencies.  So  long  as  wheat  and  corn  were  produced  near  the  water- 
ways and  could  l)e  (lis])osed  of  at  markets  located  on  the  rivers, 
traffic  by  river  continued ;  but  so  soon  as  either  of  these  coiulitions  was 
no  longer  present,  the  railway  began  to  take  the  business.  If  grain 
was  sliipped  from  a  river  port  and  recjuired  transfer  to  rail  for  delivery 
at  a  pi'imary  market,  like  Chicago,  the  expense  of  transfer  ami  the 
lack  of  all  facilities  for  satisfactory  handling  turned  the  traffic  at  its 
source  to  the  railways.  When  gi-ain  began  to  be  produced  away  from 
the  waterways,  it  had  to  be  loaded  at  first  into  railway  cars,  and  once 
in  the  cars  it  remained  theie  until  it  icached  its  market.  The  move- 
ment of  the  wheat  area  northwestward  to  a  region  west  of  Lake 
Supei'ioi-  and  the  advance  of  the  corn  aica  westward  eidianced  this 
tencK'ncy,  and  the  railways  encouraged  it  l)()th  by  the  provision  of 
suitahic  facilities  for  storage  and  handling  and  by  the  adjustment  of 
their  rates.  Tlie  effect  upon  the  Mi.ssissippi  liiver  is  strikmgly  shown 
by  the  fact  that  although  in  the  fifties  there  were  many  towns  with 
prospects  of  raj)id  and  successful  development,  yet  at  the  census  of 

"  If.  Doc.  50,  (ilst  Com,'.,  1st  sess. 


TRAFFIC    HISTORY   OF   MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   SYSTEM.  69 

1900  there  was  not  a  river  town  from  St.  Paul  to  St.  Louis  wath  40,000 
people  and  only  three,  Quincy,  Davenport,  and  Duhutpie,  with  over 
25,000  inhabitants.     The  same  principle  niaj'  be  illustrated  in  other 

garts  of  the  system.  For  example,  Madison  and  Xew  Albany,  Ind., 
oth  declined  in  population  between  1890  anrl  1900,  and  neither  of 
them  had  25,000  people  in  the  latter  year,  whereas  Indianapolis,  pre- 
eminently a  railway  center,  which  in  1840  had  less  po])ulation  tlian 
either  of  the  towais  mentioned  and  in  1850  almost  exactly  the  same 
number,  had  in  1900  a  population  of  109, 000. 

So  far  as  export  business  by  way  of  Xew  Orleans  is  concerned,  the 
long  roundabout  journey,  combined  witb  hick  of  satisfjictory  steam- 
ship facilities  at  Xew  Orleans,  has  had  its  influence  in  turnin*!:  traffic 
eastward  by  rail. 

The  kind  of  business  which  has  most  satisfactorily  developed  on 
the  Mi.ssissii)pi  Kiver  system  has  been  that  trans])orted  in  the  form 
of  rafts,  the  lumber  Inisiness,  and  that  handled  by  baro:es,  of  which 
coal  is  the  best  examj)le.  The  former  flourisiied  on  the  upi)er  Mis- 
sissippi, and  is  still  ])r()sperous  on  the  lower  Mississip])i  and  the 
Ohio  and  tributaries,  because,  as  already  indicated,  it  can  l)e  slipped 
mto  the  water  and  carried  to  its  market  with  little  exi)enditure  of 
labor  an<l  with  no  necessit}"  of  transfer.  So  soon  as  the  forests  were 
cut  ofl'  on  tiie  banks  of  upper  Mississi])j)i  tributaries,  rafting  be^jan  to 
decline,  and  a  ra])idly  increasing  proportion  of  lumber  and  log  outjiut 
was  carried  by  rail. 

The  Ohio  River  coal  traffic  illustrates  j)ecidiarly  well  the  kind  and 
method  of  business  to  which  the  river  system  is  at  j^resent  a(la|)ted. 
In  this  industry,  to  be  sure,  are  some  of  the  advantages  whicli  are 
lacking  in  any  other,  namely,  administrative*  organization,  mechan- 
ical loading  aj)))liances,  and  the  highest  development  of  barg(»  traffic. 
But  in  atldition  to  all  this,  coal  can  be  loaded  direct  from  the  mines 
into  the  barges  and  can  then  be  transported  without  any  rehandling 
to  its  destination,  which  is  the  river  steamboat,  the  ocean-going 
steamship,  the  sugar  plantation  on  the  bay,  or  the  railway  coal  yard 
on  the  river  bank.  In  (Hher  words,  the  Mississij)pi  can  at  present 
handle  traffic  successfidly  which  begins  and  ends  within  its  banks, 
but  ti-aflic  lequiring  transfer  to  the  railway  at  any  point  on  its  course 
Avill  have  a  tendency  to  resort  to  the  railway  for  tlie  entire  distance. 
AVhether  this  situation  is  due  to  a  control  of  teruiinal  and  transfer 
facilities  by  the  railways  and  a  refusal  to  ])ro  rate  with  the  waterway, 
whether  it  is  due  to  lack  of  initiative  on  the  ])art  of  river  interests  in 
developing  transfer  facilities,  or  whether  it  is  due  to  the  greater 
cheapness  of  an  all-rail  haul,  the  fact  remains  that  carriage  involving 
transfer  no  longer  makes  use  of  the  Mi.ssissij)pi  River  system. 

A  recent  si)ecial  report  of  a  board  of  I'liited  States  engineers"  calls 
attention,  in  explaining  the  insignificant  commerce  of  the  lower 
Mississipj)i,  to  the  fact  that  the  i)opulation  in  sections  bordering  the 
river  is  as  low  as  86  to  24  per  square  mile,  including  cities,  and  that 
in  a  total  length  of  about  1.265  miles  there  are  only  seven  towns  or 
cities  of  over  10,000  population  and  only  23  of  over  5,000  population. 
In  rei)ly  to  this  and  in  answer  to  the  statements  which  picture  the 
declining  condition  of  river  commerce  the  advocates  of  water- 
ways insist  that  if  they  were  given  an  improved  channel  commen- 

"H.  Doc.  No.  50,  61st  Cong.,  l3t  sess. 


70  TKAFFIC    HISTORY   OF    MISSISSIPPI  BIVER  SYSTEM. 

surate  with  the  needs  of  business,  traffic  would  come  and  the  thinly 
settled  sections  along  the  rivers  would  be  built  u]).  They  also  con- 
tend that  even  if  commerce  were  not  developed  by  the  waterway 
the  existence  of  a  waterway  ready  for  use  would  so  affect  railway 
rates  as  amply  to  justify  the  expenditure  for  construction.  This  last 
contention  ma}'  be  dismissed  with  a  few  words.  No  expenditure  by 
the  National  Government  would  be  justified  for  the  construction  or 
improvement  of  a  useless  or  idle  waterway  unless  the  saving  could 
be  clearly  demonstrated  in  advance.  Such  a  demonstration  would, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  be  (juite  impossible,  for  it  is  evident  that  the 
comparative  attractiveness  of  rail  and  water  routes  is  not  a  simple 
question  of  comparative  rates.  A  variety  of  factors  which  can  be 
summed  up  in  the  word  "serviceability"  actually  determine  the 
method  of  shipment,  and  such  factors  can  not  be  ])redetermined.  If 
the  pur})ose  is  to  reduce  railway  rates,  there  are  more  direct  and  less 
costl}'  methods  of  accomplishing  this  result. 

The  influence  of  a  waterway  in  developing  traffic  is  somewhat 
problematical,  and  no  final  answer  can  be  given  to  the  claims  of 
those  who  insist  that  trade  will  follow  the  lock  and  the  dam.  Al- 
though there  are  real  obstacles  at  present  to  successful  navigation, 
as  already  noted,  nevertheless  it  is  difficult  to  understand  why  the 
commercial  interests,  if  they  are  so  eager  foi'  a  waterway,  have  not 
made  better  use  of  existing  facilities.  The  inference  is  a  natural 
one  that  the  trouble  lies  elsewhere  than  in  the  condition  of  water 
navigation. 

But  it  must  be  admitted  that  there  is  some  basis  for  the  conten- 
tion that  good  traffic  facilities  develop  traffic.  The  truth  of  this  has 
been  often  demonstrated  by  the  railways.  The  waterway  advocates 
haA'e  reason  to  count  upon  a  repetition  at  least  in  part  of  railway 
experience,  but  hardly  to  the  extent  claimed  by  some  of  the  ex- 
tremists among  the  supporters  of  the  policy.  They  have,  however, 
the  right  to  a  reasonable  assurance  that  such  improvement  work  as  is 
now  being  carried  on  and  such  plans  as  have  been  undertaken  for 
further  betterment  shall  be  continuous,  in  order  that  such  invest- 
ments as  they  may  make  in  floating  equipment  shall  not  be  lost  by 
an  abandonment  of  improvement  work. 

To  four  general  influences,  then,  may  be  assigned  the  decline  in 
Mississi})pi  River  commerce:  First,  C()mj)etition  of  rail  and  lake; 
second,  natural  obstructions  to  navigation:  third,  lack  of  adminis- 
trative organization  of  the  water  trans|)ortation  business;  and 
fourth,  certain  fundamental  principles  of  ti'aHic  movement  which 
unchM- existing  conditions  work  to  the  disadvantage  of  water  carriage. 

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